Over The Waves
by Nokito-chan
Summary: Hearts collide when two shinobi face their mortality together; every story has its beginning ... This is theirs.
1. Prologue: At The Beginning

_**a/n: I'm posting both the prologue and chapter one together since the prologue's so short. I hope you'll like it!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Over The Waves**_

**Prologue: At the beginning**

Her shoulders slumped, dark bangs floating around her too-pale features. Slender fingers unclenched from tight fists; another sure sign that Tenten had reached the absolute end of what she could endure. Neji watched grimly, the Byakugan dulling the prisms of light that shone through the cages of water surrounding him, and his teammates, in its deadly embrace.

Oxygen was becoming an issue.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Lee watching the fight between Gai-sensei and the unknown missing-nin with rapt admiration. He couldn't see the colors – his kekkei genkai rendered the world dull and lifeless – but he could see the chakra. Gai had released an impressive amount of chakra from underwater, their enemy appearing quite taken aback by the feat, and Neji turned his full attention back to the problem facing the three of them; Gai was perfectly capable of handling himself. Frantically, his eyes searched for a weakness; any weakness.

The clones holding them captive were distracted; he couldn't wait for a better opening. Didn't dare wait; with Tenten about to suffocate he had to strike fast and hard and he had to strike _now_. His eyes narrowed in concentration, sweeping over and over the barrier of water in front of him. Just shy of the missing-nin's hand the chakra appeared thinner. The thinner the chakra layered throughout the water the easier it would be to break through…

_Now's my chance!_

One long-fingered hand drew back, level with his shoulder, the other rising in front of him as Neji assumed his battle stance, attention fixed unwaveringly on the chakra in front of him.

_Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!_

His focus was absolute; the water sparkled in the desert sun as the bubble-prison exploded but Neji was already moving. The moment he was free, he whirled into motion; fingers poised for the sixty-four strikes necessary to dispel the clones holding him and Lee captive. Team Gai worked together well; it had always been thus and Neji was not surprised when Lee's cry of 'Konoha Senpuu' drowned out the clones' noises of surprise. A green blur passed over his head and, confident that Lee would handle the remaining enemy clone, Neji immediately turned his attention back to Tenten.

The powerful roundhouse kick connected and Lee landed lightly on the water as the clone disappeared and the water-prison surrounding Tenten exploded; a myriad tiny rainbows surrounding her stumbling form.

Neji moved without realizing it. Before Tenten could fall he was in place, catching hold of her tumbling form and holding her steady before she could hit the water.

"Are you alright, Tenten?"

For some reason, some unfathomable reason, he couldn't draw his eyes away from her, could focus on nothing but the way she felt; trembling in his arms as she gasped for breath. He waited for her eyes to regain their focus, reluctant to let go until he was sure she was fine.

"Thank you, Neji."


	2. What Happens In Suna

_**a/n: This has got to be the smuttiest thing I've ever written xD – I'm actually quite nervous about it! So, consider yourselves warned … don't read if you're not legally allowed to view mature content or if you're offended by explicit sexual situations!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

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**Chapter 1: What happens in Suna …**

_The sharp teeth glinted ferociously in the sunlight, the blue tint of the man's skin just adding to the nightmarish sight. His black robe fluttered in the wind and Tenten couldn't quite suppress the shiver that ran down her spine as his cold, predatory gaze locked with hers. _

_Water was rising, the tide of it blocking sunlight and warmth; she couldn't see Neji to her left any more, much less Lee on his other side or Gai-sensei … and then it hit her. _

_She was alone._

_Alone, and facing the wall of water approaching too fast for her to ever outrun. __F__ear __took hold __of her in its icy grip. She could see the shadow of the enemy on the other side of the rapidly advancing tidal-wave, could see the outline of his cloak and his sword. He was Death._

_The Grim Reaper coming for her …_

_Crushing weight folded over her head, the water swallowing her scream, flowing into her nose and her throat__;__ flooding the precious pockets of oxygen she still possessed. Tenten closed her eyes tightly, fighting the fear, but unable to keep the scream from rising in her throat_.

"Tenten! Ten … wake up!"

A strong grip, somehow soothingly familiar, reached through the waves, pulling her from the water's grasp with ease.

Hazel-brown eyes flew open, wide with fright. She struggled upright, disorientation reigning strong for a moment as she tried to assimilate the information her eyes imparted to her brain. There was no wall of water; only the beige color of the interior of the room. There was no crushing force exerted on her body, only the strangling hold of the pristine white sheets she'd tangled around herself. Slowly sleep receded and Tenten recognized the Suna quarters that had been assigned to Team Gai. The dark-wood furniture was still impersonal, the bed comfortable despite its utilitarian appearance. And the soothing grip she'd felt even in the midst of her nightmare belonged to Neji.

His hair was mussed, his shirt half-open, as if he'd pulled it over his head in a hurry instead of bothering with the buttons, and his eyes were narrowed in concern.

She took a last trembling gasp for air, forcing herself to breathe evenly through her nose even if she wanted nothing more than to scream, and cry, and throw herself into Neji's arms until the last vestiges of the nightmare disappeared from her conscious mind.

It would not do to appear weak in front of Neji.

In front of anyone, really. But Neji, especially.

"I'm okay," Tenten forced a smile, "Just a nightmare. Sorry to have woken you."

"You were screaming," he stated, matter-of-factly, releasing her shoulders and sitting back on the edge of the bed wearily.

She avoided his searching gaze, the almost -concern she could detect there. She didn't need his pity, didn't need him to remind her of her failings as a kunoichi. Shinobi compartmentalized – it was the only way to survive sane. But this time Tenten seemed to be totally unable to let go.

They'd travelled at break-neck speed, trying to catch up to Team Kakashi on their mission to rescue the Kazekage from Akatsuki; they'd faced their counterparts in the most draining battle Tenten had yet to endure. They'd watched Gaara-sama die only to be brought back to life but none of it had affected Tenten as badly as their fight with the missing-nin. For the first time in her career as a kunoichi Tenten had truly believed she was going to die.

Nightmares had plagued her since.

"That's every night since the battle with Akatsuki," he said, quietly, breaking into her thoughts.

Tenten jumped, "It's nothing. Really. Just go back to bed. I'll be fine. I _am _fine."

She could feel his doubtful gaze on her and forced an airy laugh that sounded, even to her ears, entirely false, "Really, Neji. I'm sorry I woke you but it's nothing to be worried about. Just my sub-conscious working through the aftermath."

She hoped her tone was as matter-of-fact as her words.

Neji raised an eyebrow but thankfully refrained from arguing any further. Slowly, he got to his feet, keeping his gaze trained on her face, searching for the way forward, but she only smiled – insincerely – and waved him off.

As soon as Neji was safely out of her bedroom, Tenten exhaled and fell back against the pillows. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the pictures to disappear from her mind's eye and wished, for the millionth time, that she could just get past this.

* * *

She'd felt so delicate in his hold. Tenten and delicate was two words he'd never really associated with each other, but she'd stumbled free from the water prison, and into his arms, and some disassociated part of his mind had wondered at how small and frail she'd felt, with her shoulders shaking as she gasped for breath. Neji squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying desperately to block out the pictures. At that moment, he'd only been fiercely relieved that she was alright, that all of Team Gai seemed to still be alive and fighting. It was only later that his brain started to show him the minute details he would rather not have known about. The way the water had turned her white shirt damn near transparent. The way the wet cloth clung to feminine curves he'd somehow failed to notice before. How her skin had rapidly warmed beneath his fingers and the way her full lower lip trembled as she thanked him …

He shook his head violently, long chocolate locks tangling against the pillow-case in stark contrast to the white fabric. These thoughts were wholly inappropriate – she was Tenten, his teammate, his sparring partner, someone he called a friend. All else aside, Hyuuga Neji was not the kind of person who fantasized.

About anything.

Ever.

* * *

The dark rings under Tenten's eyes were even more pronounced against the paleness of her skin.

Another nightmare then.

Neji carefully schooled his features so as not to give her any reason to flare up at him. The less Tenten slept the more unbearable she became.

They would spend one more night in Suna before returning to Konoha – and every night of the past week the peace of slumber had been shattered by her fear-filled screams. How Gai and Lee slept through them Neji would never know. After their last conversation in the middle of the night, Tenten had locked her door; he'd never felt as frustrated as he had when hearing her scream and being unable to do anything about it. The muffled sobs he'd heard through the thin door hadn't helped either, once the screams faded away.

It was an alien feeling, but he ached. He physically _hurt_ as he'd listened to the broken sound of tears and gasping breaths; while he was on the other side of a locked door, unable to help her.

Surreptiously, from beneath half-lowered eyelids, he watched as she picked at her dinner.

"Tenten…" he cleared his throat, uncertain of how to proceed.

"I'm fine," she muttered, her voice a low monotone, drowned out by the exuberant antics of Gai and Lee on the other side of the table.

He didn't have the words to express the confusion whirling inside him; didn't know how to express the almost _need_ to hold her close and tell her that everything would be fine; that she was alive and that he would never let anything hurt her.

So he stayed silent and joined her in picking at his food.

* * *

He wasn't asleep. Couldn't sleep, not with the knowledge that Tenten would be suffering through her dreams on the other side of a flimsy wall; so near and yet so far.

The soft knock surprised him; he knew the gentle cadence of the taps, knew the sound her knuckles made on wood and his heart sped up, slamming against the cage of his ribs.

For one insane moment he considered pretending to be asleep…

"Enter."

The door creaked, pushed by an uncertain hand, until the gap was big enough for her to slip through. She closed it softly behind her, hovering uncertainly, as Neji pushed himself up onto his elbows and stared at her through the dim moonlight shining in through the windows.

His heart jumped, he nearly choked and immediately reprimanded himself for his perversion … but she was dressed in nothing but a tank-top, one strap falling down the smooth curve of her shoulder, and a pair of boy-cut panties. She stood one leg bent as she rubbed a foot against the back of the other, arms defensively crossed over her chest. Her head cocked slightly as she looked uncertainly at him through the dark waterfall of hair that cascaded down her back.

Her hair was loose, and it occurred to him that he'd never seen it this way before; wavy, shining strands caressing her bare shoulders and arms, falling into her eyes. Something rose inside of him, something primitive and frightening, a dark voice that snarled that he would be the only one to ever see her this way.

Tenten cleared her throat, nervously, "I need sleep. We'll be travelling almost non-stop for the next two days and I can't hold everyone back because I'm so damn tired."

Slowly, Neji nodded, pushing himself up so his back rested against the headboard, already seeing where she was headed with the train of thought and not entirely sure how he felt about it. He resisted the urge to pull his long hair away from his neck, suddenly aware of the rise in temperature. Silently, he watched as she took one uncertain step forward, then another, before seeming to gather her courage and stalking to the bed, determination firming her jaw. The mattress dipped slightly as she sat down, and Neji choked back the strangled sound that rose in his throat as she shifted around, trying to get comfortable.

Large, dark eyes stared seriously into his, she nestled one small hand underneath her cheek and wiggled until she could slide her feet under the covers. The heat was becoming unbearable; he could feel the blush spreading and tried to will it to recede. But after a week of worry and inappropriate thoughts she was suddenly there, small and trusting, in his _bed_ - half-naked - and Neji had no idea of how to react.

Long lashes kissed her cheeks, shadows on the pale skin, and she whispered, "I keep seeing that face in the shadows ... I think if … if … you were there, I could sleep."

The admission must have cost her a lot. Neji knew her pride, knew her stubborn determination to never show weakness, to never ask for help. Stoically, he stared straight ahead, his mind whirling. The frustration of the last week, the incessant inappropriate thoughts, the insane and wholly uncalled for … _urges_ … to make everything better for her, welled up inside him. Determined, Neji turned his head slightly, intending to tell her to go to sleep – as close as he'd come to acquiescence – but pearlescent eyes met hazel-brown and all his intentions flew out the window.

Abrupt motion had Neji lying flat on his back, staring straight up at the ceiling, his entire body ram-rod straight. He closed his eyes, willed the flush to recede; begged the pictures his mind conjured up to fade away and nearly jumped out of bed when a small, soft hand touched lightly down on his shoulder.

"If this is … if you don't …" her voice wavered, uncertainty painting her tone, filling the space between them, and Neji found that the ball of flame that settled in his stomach burned the unease away. Still uncomfortable, still unsure, he reached hesitantly for her hand. Her hand was cold, more evidence of her disturbed state of mind, and Neji instinctively folded his fingers around hers in an attempt to warm them.

She froze, then relaxed, her breath leaving her mouth with a small puff of air and Neji abruptly withdrew his hand. It wouldn't do for Tenten to know how much even that small touch made him yearn for more. He was still reeling from the realization that he wanted to touch Tenten at all; that he wanted to pull her into his arms, stroke his fingers through the long silky locks currently spread on his pillow… he couldn't deal with her reaction to his expressing of such desires too.

"Sleep, Tenten."

His voice was hoarse and Neji cleared his throat uncomfortably, hoping she'd chalk the hoarseness up to sleep and not her warmth emanating through the small space that separated them. Silence descended and Neji closed his eyes, willing his body to relax. With rigorous training he'd learned to school his mind, to train his senses, and soon he fell into the familiar rhythms of meditative breathing, blocking all else from his mind.

* * *

He woke mere hours later, the feel of Tenten trembling against him yanking him quickly from the stupor of sleep. The training of a ninja ensured that he was immediately awake, sensing that all was not as it should be and he strained his vision in the darkness to try and ascertain what had woken him. His gaze landed on the still closed door, the empty, shadowed corners and, with the confirmation that everything was exactly in place, came the realization of softness pressed against him. Slowly, Neji turned onto his side so as not to wake Tenten, watching her closely.

Her head tossed against the pillow, trembling racked her frame and her lips moved incessantly as she mumbled incoherent phrases. But the fear in her tone was clear, the way she struggled to breathe confirming his suspicions. With a sigh, Neji reached over and shook her lightly. She mumbled and turned, one arm going around his waist as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

Wetness fell onto his skin, and Neji froze.

She was crying.

"Tenten!"

His whisper was urgent this time, his hands less gentle as he took firm hold of her upper arms and gave her another small shake. Hazy eyes popped open, glittering drops still clinging to the lashes, and for a moment there was only the sound of panting as they stared at each other. The mist of confusion was clearing from her eyes, only to be replaced by something even more disconcerting; the vulnerability shook him to the core and Neji was thankful when she ducked her head so eye-contact was broken. Her head drooped forward, until her forehead rested against his collarbone and her heated breaths brushed over his chest.

"Neji. I-I…"

There was nothing else he could have done. Or so he tried to convince himself. Because a split-second later he found himself yanking her gently forward, his arms closing around her, one hand drawing soothing circles on the small of her back, the other buried in her long hair. He didn't quite dare to think about the way she pressed closer; her arms winding around his body in a vice-like grip as if she was trying to anchor herself against him.

"I hate this!" she whispered fiercely against his skin, "I hate feeling so helpless and I hate that I'm being so pathetic."

Slowly, Neji drew a deep breath, Kami knew he was not good with this sort of thing, but who else did she have to turn to? It was true for both of them, somehow in the passing of the years Team Gai had become a family. Tenten needed him, needed comfort, and he couldn't let her down.

"Fear is not pathetic, Tenten," he stated softly, "And I know that you have the courage to get past this. It might just take some time."

Her shoulders started to shake and Neji nearly reared back in alarm; he hadn't meant to make her cry … but her clenched fists pressed against his back and she shifted even closer, so he held on and hoped that this was what she needed to let go of the fear.

"You didn't die. I won't let you."

Where the whisper came from Neji would never know. It was drawn from somewhere deep inside, but it was true. So he allowed the words to hover in the air above their heads, his gaze focusing off to the side as Tenten drew back a little, sitting on her knees and staring up at him through water-filled eyes.

The silence became unbearable, not looking at her became impossible when he could feel her eyes intently fixed on his features. Involuntarily, Neji turned slightly, a quick glance …

Their eyes met, held, and Tenten raised one trembling hand to his lips, tracing a tingling trail along the seam.

"Neji, I want to forget. If only for a little while…"

Confusion darkened his eyes to a deeper grey, held him immobile and unresisting as her hands lifted, fingers spread on the firm pectoral muscles of his chest. Her gaze dropped; she watched the path of her hands as she trailed caressing fingers up his chest, over his shoulders and around his neck.

Neji watched with her; tried not to give in to the shudder when her slender digits fisted in his hair and she tugged him forward.

He'd never kissed anyone before. Never felt the need to, never even thought much about it, except on those occasions where his hormones raged out of control and no amount of meditation would allow it to abate.

It was awkward.

Her head angled to the side but even so their noses bumped. The fleeting touch of their lips burned though, made him curious, even as Tenten giggled softly and used her grip on his hair to tilt his head.

Softness ... Warmth.

Her lips were soft, her cheek even softer and Neji winced at the scrape of stubble against the velvety skin as she shifted forward, angling her mouth so her lips slanted over his. Instinctively, it had to be instinct because he had _no _idea what he was doing, the hand that rested on her back trailed up over her shoulder, until his fingers stroked softly over her cheek; wanting to soothe the damage he'd caused. The kiss lasted only a moment longer; a trembling sigh of a breath fell on his lips as Tenten drew away, a few inches at most, and Neji couldn't help the fleeting stab of disappointment. The realization that he didn't have to stop, not until she told him to, came swiftly on the heels of the disappointment and Neji allowed his hand to slide to her nape. Mimicking her earlier movements he tangled his fingers in her hair, drawing her closer again. She wanted this and he wanted to know if that was all he'd been missing. Kissing was … nice enough, he supposed, but not really something he could now regret having missed out on.

A tentative tap to his lower lip made him jerk in surprise but almost despite himself he opened his mouth somewhat hesitantly, allowing her tongue to slip inside and stroke along his own.

It was insane.

His head whirled, stars exploded behind his closed lids and that muffled grunt couldn't possibly have emitted from his voice box …

Tenten rose up onto her knees, never breaking the kiss, drawing him with her, and shifted closer, pressing her half-naked body against his as the sheets pooled around them. The world shrank, it encompassed only her, her lips, her tongue, the way she tangled it sensuously around his, subtly fighting for dominance and her soft , soft curves pressed against him. His hands rested on her hips, fingers restlessly bunching the fabric of her tank top until they could slide underneath. Some unknown force drove him to feel more of her, to remove the annoying barriers that covered such silky skin.

She pulled away, panting slightly, eyes a little wild and very surprised, and Neji couldn't help the stab of satisfaction as his male pride flared – clearly the electricity of the moment hadn't been one-sided. For a long time, they stared at each other in the darkness, trying to read the other's expression, wondering how to proceed from here. They were friends, teammates, and one kiss – no matter how mind-blowing - couldn't be allowed to alter that … but underneath the uncertainty and the conflicting emotions Neji wanted more. Wanted to touch her with no limitations, wanted to kiss every inch of skin, wanted the freedom to pull her scant pieces of clothing from her body ... wanted her to touch him…

Flushing slightly, he pulled his gaze away, before his thoughts could betray him, but that only left him staring at the way her shirt was bunched up around her middle, just baring her belly-button and the knowledge of exactly how precariously low-cut her panties were. Her breaths were still uneven, her breasts heaved, straining against the thin cotton that covered them and Neji swallowed hard, willing his eyes to close and his body to relax. It was a futile effort, the image of her, dishevelled and obviously thoroughly kissed was imprinted on his mind and his body was stirring, hardening, and he _couldn't _let Tenten notice the effect she had on him … it would be too humiliating to appear so weak.

A soft touch to his cheek made him open his eyes, staring at her through the haze of lust he was still frantically trying to recall and stuff back in its dusty box.

"Was that your first kiss?"

The inflection was strange, her words seemed to hitch in her throat but Neji was too caught up in his own thoughts to really pay it any mind. Her question was a double-edged sword; he hated to admit his inexperience but he couldn't _lie_. He settled for shrugging non-committally.

"Wow," Tenten breathed the word, staring at the sheets. Thoughtfully, she blew her bangs out of her eyes, "I-I mean, I'm sorry." She mumbled the last words, nervous fingers pleating the fabric of the sheet.

Slowly, Neji sat back down, uncomfortably aware of the evidence of his arousal and the precarious slit at the front of his boxers. His gaze landed on the pillows and he wondered if it would be too obvious if he placed one over his lap …

"What are you sorry for?" He didn't mean for the words to contain so much bite, but he was unsettled and she was the cause and he _hated _being out of control...

"I didn't mean it that way," her eyes flashed at him, even through the darkness he could see the wry twist to her lips, "It was … it was good. I just mean that I didn't intend to take something special away from you."

Neji stared at her, utterly dumb-founded. What did she think he was? A fucking _girl_?

Finally, Tenten laughed, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. As if her movement released him, Neji found he could think again. Somewhat.

"I think that sentiment applies rather more to you than to me, Tenten," he stated dryly.

"Well," she bit her lip, worried it between pearly teeth, "Yes, but, I mean, it's not as if that was my first kiss so…"

Her words trailed away and her shoulders tensed in alarm at the quickly suppressed flare of chakra that emanated from Neji.

"What do you mean?" His tone was low and the only thing Tenten could think of to make the angry inflection make any sense was that Neji severely disliked being beaten – in anything.

"W-well, kunoichi sometimes have to undertake certain missions."

Her reply was soft, hesitant, anxious eyes fixed on his face. Would he think less of her knowing that she'd been on such a mission before?

Every muscle in his body seized up and, to his utter consternation, Neji found he had a hard time keeping his suddenly out-of-control chakra at bay as it fought to burst free from his skin. So. Tenten had been with someone before. Possibly more than once. They were shinobi, he understood the life, understood the demands that were made of kunoichi from time to time; didn't blame her for it, but that didn't mean he had to _like _it.

A low chuckle fell from his lips before Neji quickly swallowed it down again. He didn't dare look at Tenten.

"It amuses you that I had to sleep with a complete stranger?"

Her tone was acerbic; her words absolutely dripping venom and Neji quickly raised a hand to forestall the inevitable explosion.

"No," he spoke softly, soothingly, "It just occurred to me that you had the courage to allow an unknown man the utmost level of intimacy with your body and yet one little Akatsuki member terrifies you."

He sensed the way her body relaxed before he heard the disgruntled giggle fall softly into the silence.

"Stupid, isn't it?" she agreed. "But, please, let's not talk about that now I've finally managed to forget about it for a few minutes."

Her lips twisted into a grimace of distaste and without thought, without consciously deciding on that course of action, Neji leaned forward, pressing his lips firmly back against hers. After one, torturous, moment when he thought she'd pull away, Tenten melted into him instead. He swallowed her soft sigh, revelled in the feel of her nails scraping across his back and pressed forward more. Slowly, subtly, his body angled into hers more and more until her back pressed firmly into the mattress.

It was heat and lightning exploding across his skin everywhere she touched; soft, feathery touches to his back, his sides, his chest, as he took the opportunity to thoroughly explore her mouth, this time fully in control of the kiss and able to enjoy the way she trembled beneath him. His hands seemed to have developed a mind of their own; he'd placed them on her cheeks, innocently cupping her face, but the longer the kiss dragged on the more of an impossibility it became to stay still. Long fingers trailed down her neck, just skirting the curve of her breast, to settle on her hip, his thumb brushing light circles over the cotton fabric that covered her.

The need to breathe overcame the sensory overload, the smell and taste of her, and Neji drew back, half-lidded eyes landing with satisfaction on her flushed features, her dazed eyes. He wanted to touch her, so badly. Boldly, carefully gauging her reaction, firmly resolved to stop the moment she appeared even remotely uncomfortable with anything he did, Neji shifted his weight onto the forearm still resting on the bed next to her head and drew back a little. His lips danced down her neck, laving a wet trail onto her collarbone where he paused, sucking softly, just letting his teeth graze the skin. Slowly, carefully, he raised the hand on her hip, stroking along her stomach, signalling his intent so she had a chance to stop him if that was what she wanted but she did nothing. His heart was pounding, blood rushing through his veins, anticipation and lust coiling low in his abdomen. All rationale appeared to have fled, he couldn't begin formulating a reasonable argument as to why he shouldn't be doing this - there was only the demands of his body superceding any thoughts of right and wrong.

Questing fingers stroked softly, questioningly, along the underside of one breast.

Soft. So very soft.

Neji closed his eyes.

He wanted more, wanted to cup her in his hand and test the suppleness of the heaving mound, wanted to feel the pebbled tip pressing against his palm …

Tenten arched her back, a soft mewling noise rising from her throat, and Neji took that as consent. Hesitantly, afraid to hurt her, he moved slowly, cupping the soft flesh before squeezing lightly. She moaned, a clear cry for more, and his fingers instinctively found the pebbled nipple, pressing and rolling it between his thumb and forefinger. The heat flared between them, the scent of her intoxicating him, steadily stealing the last vestiges of clear thought away as he experimentally rubbed his palm in circles over her breast.

Her reaction went straight to his – already aching – groin.

"Oh, Neji!"

It wasn't a sigh, or a moan, but a pleasured mix of the two and he kissed his way down the line of her throat to keep the satisfied noises locked inside his mouth. His tongue lingered on the pulse-point at the base of her throat and his hand left her breast, to a protesting moan. Nearly reverant fingers stroked over her shoulder, dislodging the strap from its place before it returned, cupping and kneading lightly as he trailed kisses down into the valley between her breasts. The flimsy fabric of her top was no barrier, it was easily pushed aside, and Neji acted on pure instinct as he kissed around the curve of her breast. His fingers slowly feathered down her sides and over her ribs before drawing that delightful little peak into his mouth. He pet it lightly with his tongue, testing her reaction.

She arched violently, pulling at his hair as she tried to push him closer while she squirmed against him. His body demanded more, a demand he couldn't resist. Aching for some relief, even a little friction, he pressed himself firmly against the swell of her hip. The pressure only made it worse so Neji rolled his hips forward, once, twice.

She tasted too good, sweet and warm, and he was getting impatient, wanting more and wanting it now but not really sure of how to proceed. He shifted his attention to the other breast, pushing her top down totally so it pooled around her middle.

The hand not occupied in holding his weight steady above her roamed over her body; from her thigh to her hip, to her stomach to her breast, tweaking the nipple as he sucked harder on the other then sweeping back down again. He was losing himself in this intoxicating feeling, sucking harder as she cried out in pleasure; losing himself in Tenten and the way she smelled – spicy-sweet - in the way she tasted…

His mouth lifted, forehead pressed against her shoulder as he groaned raggedly into her skin, restless hips still seeking some relief as he thrust against her. Her stomach muscles trembled beneath his touch as his fingers trailed fire south and he plucked softly at the elastic band of her underwear.

Her hips bucked eagerly, so he slipped his fingers slowly past the fabric, his heart pounding as he encountered damp curls. Tenten spread her legs slightly, to give him better access, and Neji watched her face carefully as he proceeded along the new path of exploration. Her eyes were closed, she bit her lower lip between even teeth; flushed and so beautiful… Tentatively he allowed his fingers to slip lower.

Warm. Slick. _Wet_.

His breath left his body in a rush, all the blood pooling in his cock as he, impossibly, hardened further. Her body froze under his touch. Heavy-lidded, lust-filled white eyes immediately flew to her face to gauge her reaction and, at the sight of Tenten's features twisted in desperate bliss, it was all the Hyuuga could do to bite back the groan rising in his throat. He slowly trailed a path down and back up the wet folds, his thumb brushed the bundle of nerves he'd heard so much about - knew so little about - and Tenten gasped. His name rang in the air, her voice pleading, and Neji cursed the lost look in her brown eyes as they stared at each other. This was not the time for his inexperience to make itself known.

A desperate kiss; lips and teeth and tongue coiling sensuously and Neji drew back, his whisper falling from his lips to hers.

"Show me," a deep breath, "… what you want …"

Tenten moaned, low and full of want, pressing closer to his hand, "… off …"

The word was enough, he withdrew his hands, ignoring her protest, and sat up. Positioning himself between her spread knees, he nudged them further apart with his own as his fingers gripped the cloth and pulled it from her body. Neji stared; he couldn't have stopped if he tried, but as soon as the sorry excuse for clothing dropped from his fingers to land somewhere on the floor, Tenten tried to close her knees.

"No, don't stare," she groaned, trying to twist away.

One hand on each of her knees, keeping them apart, was enough to keep her still. Slowly, deliberately, Neji leaned forward, not breaking eye-contact, and touched the tip of his tongue to the distended bundle of nerves begging for his touch.

"Oh!"

Her hips rose, trying to follow his tongue as he withdrew, all thought of embarrassment gone, and so Neji decided to do it again. The taste was different, but not bad, somehow sweet and indefinably _Tenten_ and he quickly flicked his tongue over her, trying to ignore the way his body twitched in response to her wanton moan. She buried her hands in his hair, hips rising and falling and he knew she wanted more but he didn't know_ how._

"Show me," he whispered again, and made a mental note to remember the way she reacted to the vibration of his voice against her sensitive flesh.

One trembling hand left his hair, brushed over the back of his hand and when Neji lifted his she quickly placed their entangled fingers between her legs.

It was the single most erotic thing he'd ever seen. From a distance he was aware of Tenten's blush, the way she turned her head away, half-buried in the pillow, but her fingers were positioning his so she must want it as badly as he did…

Her hand slowly withdrew and Neji experimentally pushed his fingers harder against her. The soft flesh gave way, the tips of his fingers enveloped in sudden wet heat and he could feel the way his breath shortened as anticipation pushed the air from his lungs.

It was indescribable; molten heat, tight and wet, clenching ever tighter around the invading digit and Neji couldn't help the groan that escaped as he imagined how she would feel clenching so tightly around his cock. Her hips moved sinuously, continuously searching, so he pulled back a little before thrusting back in again.

Tenten moaned. Her inner walls fluttered around his fingers and Neji frowned as he encountered a part of her that felt different from the rest. Curiosity won, what would happen if he touched her there? He withdrew and deliberately pressed back in aiming for that spot, pressing firmly against it.

She screamed.

A high, trembling sound that may have been his name, but coherency was distorted through the sheer desperation and want that laced her voice thickly.

He broke.

There was only so much a man could take, after all.

"Ten …" his voice was muffled against her stomach as she writhed under him, her inner walls gripping his fingers so exquisitely that Neji could have sworn he saw stars. The almost-pleading note in his voice barely registered – he had no idea what he was even asking for…

For a long moment neither moved, gasping breaths the only sound in the room. Neji fought the rising desperation, fought to hold on a little longer … he wanted to explore every inch of the body spread so invitingly beneath his own trembling form, but he was so close already and they hadn't even started. The erotic pictures in his head, imagining the way she'd feel wrapped around him, trying to drag him deeper, was nearly his undoing.

He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his breathing, tried with all his might to push the mindless desire away for just a little while longer. He was barely aware of her movements, his body complying automatically as he fought for even a single shred of composure. His hands withdrew from her body at the urging of her hips but her touch burned as she brushed sure, soft hands down his chest, pushing him onto his back.

Then she was hovering over him, straddling his hips and he was so achingly aware of that enticing heat so close …

Her mouth trailed mind-numbing pleasure over his skin from his neck down to his chest; he cried out as she stopped to suck on one flat nipple, his hips bucking up into her involuntarily as wide, confused eyes flew to hers.

Tenten laughed softly, "It gets better. Trust me."

The torture only got worse.

Her tongue traced slow whorls along his abs, over the line of his boxers, by now riding low on his hips, before trailing back up to dip into his belly-button. Helpless beneath the sensory onslaught, Neji simply allowed it all. Uncharacteristically surrendering control, he let her trail her hands all over him as he focused with breathless intensity on that tormenting tongue drawing ever closer to where he ached for her to touch.

She drew back, sitting between his knees and reached for the tank top still bunched around her middle and drew it over her head. Her breasts lifted and swayed enticingly with the movement and Neji bit back a groan.

It was purposeful, he was sure. She was trying to drive him insane.

The haze of arousal withdrew slightly into almost panic when he realized that she was gently pulling his boxers off. He really had no desire to be naked and vulnerable with another person … but her hand closed around his aching flesh and he choked on the instinctive command to leave his clothes in place. Her hand was soft, warm, stroking slowly up and down his shaft; her palm dragging over the head, spreading the wetness already collected there before sliding down his length again. She squeezed and Neji grunted, his back bowing as his hips tried to thrust into her hand. It felt too good, better than the most desperate fist he'd ever closed around himself.

He was lost in a haze of pleasure, nothing existed except the slow, deliberate movements of her fingers, the tightness of her hand enclosed around him, but slowly her voice broke through and Neji opened passion-glazed eyes to stare uncomprehendingly up at Tenten.

"I'd like to show you something, Neji," she whispered seductively, her hands withdrawing from his body. He felt like crying as her hands slowly slid over his hips, his body responding to her nakedness with a quick tap to his stomach. He was so hard, it _hurt_.

Pearlescent eyes stared, dazed and disbelieving, up at the girl hovering over him. She chose _now _to suddenly take what he might want into account? His lips thinned and he reached for her hand, silently drawing her fingers back to his aching length, his fingers closing around hers in a vice-like grip as he forced her hand back to its previous rhythm. Once he was sure she wouldn't stop again, his withdrew his fingers, clenching them in the sheets instead. His head fell back against the pillows and he fought against the pleasured noises struggling to get free of his chest.

The low chuckle was much closer than it had been, his eyes flew open again as her hand withdrew – he was going to _kill _her if she stopped now – but her breath brushed over his straining flesh, warm and moist, and Neji froze.

Wetness, warmth.

His eyes rolled back into his head, his back arched as his hips involuntarily tried to thrust deeper, all breath forced out of his lungs at her sudden movement.

"F-f-uck…"

Coherency fled. The tightness of her mouth slowly withdrew until only the head was enveloped, her tongue licking slowly around and around until Neji was sure he'd go insane. The tip of her tongue slid slowly over him, firming as she pressed it against the small slit and Neji's back arched again.

_So warm … wet … so good._

He wasn't aware of having spoken aloud until that indescribably talented mouth left him and Tenten pressed a small kiss against his hip, sucking lightly at the sensitive spot, holding his shuddering body still as she grinned up at him mischievously.

"Do you like that?"

"… more…"

He didn't hear the hoarseness of his voice, the gasping breath that mingled with the single word, but her mouth descended again, and he lost himself in the pleasure of her tongue swirling slowly against him. His tip hit the back of her throat and her other hand cupped his balls gently.

Time melted away, became a single flowing entity consisting of nothing more than Tenten and the incredible feeling she was inflicting on his body. Too quickly, the edge loomed closer, beckoning him out onto the bright, white plateau. She sucked him deep again and Neji shivered as her throat closed tightly around him; the pleasure spiked to almost unbearable levels and, unconsciously, his trembling fingers wound into her hair. She swallowed again, hummed ... It was all he could take. His grip tightened as he angled her head, allowing him to thrust up into her mouth.

"Fuck … just like that ... I-I'm ..."

He tried to gasp a warning to her but her hands stroked soothingly along his hips and she increased the speed of her bobbing head and, in his bewilderment, Neji let her. He could feel the pleasure rising, his hips moving faster now as he sheathed himself again and again in the warmth of her mouth. It took only a few jerky thrusts and he was spilling, thick and warm, onto her tongue, barely aware of the groan as he lost himself in the incessant waves of pleasure that racked his body.

The fall back down to earth was gradual. Neji's vision returned, though his ears still rang as his body relaxed back against the bed. The wince when she withdrew her mouth was half-pained, half-pleasured, and he watched in fascination as she swallowed with every sign of enjoyment and offered him a shy grin. He was too overwhelmed to say anything, do anything, simply lay there trying to catch his breath as she crawled up his body and pressed a passionate kiss to his lips. Neji couldn't seem to gather his scattered thoughts; all he could do was respond to the demands of his body and the guidance of hers.

His mouth opened instinctively, it seemed, and their mingled taste fell on his tongue. The feel of her naked skin against his had the barely dormant desire rising again, much to his surprise. Slowly, with careful caresses and wet kisses, Tenten teased his body back to life. It didn't seem to care that he should be exhausted, and sleep was the furthest thing from Neji's mind, as the need to be buried inside of her as quickly as possible became almost unbearable.

Still untutored, he didn't want to push, didn't want to force anything on her that she didn't want, so he continued fanning the flames with his mouth and his fingers at Tenten's urging. But he learned quickly, using all his new-found skills, hoping Tenten would reach the end of what she could endure before he lost his mind. Her thighs were trembling and even in his inexperience he thought she must surely be close to orgasm. Tenten reached between them to stop his fingers even as her other hand continued to dance up and down his hard length and Neji swallowed at the serious look in her eyes.

"What do you want?" she whispered, watching him intently.

Neji swallowed again, suppressed the urge to close his eyes and groan, to give himself over to the talented fingers squeezing him so wonderfully. The words seemed to stick in his throat, but Tenten needed verbal confirmation that this was okay and he understood that, so he lowered his head and nuzzled the hollow of her throat, tongue slicking out to taste the sweat on her skin.

"I want to be inside you."

The words came out wrong, he hadn't meant to say it so baldly, to state it so matter-of-factly, but it was the truth and the best she was going to get out of him besides, so Neji simply pretended as if he'd never spoken, biting lightly and sucking his mark onto her fair skin. Her hips bucked, wetness brushed against his straining shaft and Neji closed his eyes, took a deep breath and hoped against hope that he could hold out.

"Now."

The word became a chant and he moved obediently, positioning himself above her. Her hand reached between them, guiding him, and his hips surged eagerly forward, almost against his will, seeking her heat and Neji could only try to focus on not hurting her. Finally fully sheathed, he sank down against her, fighting for breath.

Her mouth couldn't have prepared him for this. It was warmer than he'd expected, liquid silk gripping him tightly, rippling against him with constant movement.

"Oh, God… _move_, Neji."

Blindly, he followed her urgent, breathless command. Shifting slightly, he pulled out and pushed back in. Again, and again, each time feeling the urge to collapse into her as her body gripped him and tried to draw him deeper. He tried to focus on her panted breaths, the way her body trembled underneath his, the desperate kisses she pressed into his neck and the way her fingers tangled in his hair and raked down his spine …

"Harder, faster."

He was used to grasping something the first time he tried to execute it and doing it flawlessly by the second attempt … this was different. He couldn't seem to find a rhythm, an angle, that worked for them both. He pushed forward with his hips, obeying the command to go faster and pulled out until he was barely buried inside her before slamming forward again. He angled his hips upward, trying to stroke that spot he'd found with his fingers... He couldn't think, couldn't plan tactics, not with the way she felt moving beneath him, around him.

Tenten gasped, writhed, moaned his name, and in relief Neji tried to replicate the exact angle of his thrust, again and again. He shifted, lifting his weight slightly off her, supporting himself with one hand braced next to her head so the other could cup her breast, and rolled the nipple between his fingers until she begged for more, for him to never stop. The hand slid caressingly down her side, over her hip and he cupped her ass, lifting her slightly and holding her against his thrusting hips; discovering that this angle made it easier to access that spot that made her beg.

Harder. Faster. Deeper.

Her frantic hands pulling at his hair, her tongue plunging into his mouth as he plunged into her body …

It was too much. Too good. He couldn't deny his body the release it craved … He opened his mouth to try and warn her but Tenten's back arched, and her mouth opened in a soundless scream, and she convulsed around him. Impossibly, she grew warmer, wetter, her body trying to drag him deeper.

He collapsed on top of her, curiously vulnerable, as he buried his face in her neck and groaned her name. His hips grinded against hers, barely thrusting but buried so deeply he felt as if he might disappear into her and Neji followed her out over the edge into the blinding pleasure they'd, somehow, managed to create together.

* * *

_**a/n: … review? I promise there's more to this than just shameless smut xD**_


	3. Stays in Suna?

_**A/n: I am so sorry about the long delay in updating – especially after getting such lovely reviews! Thank you so much for that. To explain my tardiness: well, in the rush of the last few months, with December and the festive season looming, my muse took an early holiday xD Also, take that as your warning that this chapter was written while I was still getting back into the swing of things so if it's not up to scratch I sincerely apologize. I hope you'll all stick with me despite this chapter filled with so many flaws because, as promised, I do have an idea I want to develop somewhere in between the shameless smut that started this story off!**_

_**Warnings: Rated M – need I say more?**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Chapter 2: … Stays in Suna?**_

Transparent, that's how Neji felt this morning, as if everyone could see right through him. Through the usual barriers of wintry eyes and perfection; straight to what he'd been doing last night to account for his dishevelled appearance and the dark circles under his eyes. He'd woken to the sound of his bedroom door clicking softly shut. The sheets had still retained her warmth, the pillow the scent of her hair; muscle memory relayed the ghost of her touch all over his body and, in the first moments of wakefulness, he hadn't felt anything much except bone-deep languor and satisfaction. Then reality had set in with surprising swiftness; the fading warmth the sheets had retained creeping away as the realization of what he'd done – and with whom – had swept over him with all the suddenness and violence of a summer storm.

Sex with Tenten.

Neji shook his head and forced himself to focus on the branches beneath his feet; to focus his gaze on Lee's green-clad back just in front of him and nothing else. His concentration lasted for approximately forty-three seconds; a blur of crimson and white slightly ahead of Lee rose to a higher branch as Lee ducked to avoid a low-hanging one … and suddenly, all Neji could see was the curves of her body as the fabric stretched and gave with her every movement. It had never bothered him in the past but, then again, he'd never known exactly what lay beneath the modestly covering cloth. A frisson of remembered pleasure ran down his spine and he nearly lost his footing; catching himself just barely in time to keep from tumbling to the ground in a graceless heap. A slight flush decorated his cheeks and he firmly ignored the look he could feel Lee sending his way.

It was nothing; nothing at all to be embarrassed about - uncomfortable about. So they'd had sex. So what? She was still just Tenten … the closest thing to a friend Neji had known for most of his life – the only person to stick by him no matter how insufferable he'd been in his younger days. He certainly didn't regret his actions; in a strange kind of way he was almost …_ thankful _… that his first time had been with Tenten. In an even weirder way, it had been inevitable. Hindsight was a wonderful, if cruel, thing and Neji could now fully appreciate that. He wasn't stupid; he knew he was good-looking. It wasn't something he was proud of, it wasn't even something he paid particular attention to, it simply _was_. He knew himself, knew his own failings and talents, and refused to lie to himself about it. As such he knew the odds of his ever initiating any kind of romantic, or even just physical, contact were slim to none. Tenten had been unplanned but certainly not something he could ever regret – he had to lose it sometime and it was preferable to do so before marriage and who better than the one person he trusted above all others?

He prided himself on always being logical and practical – as a shinobi that was the surest way to keep himself alive – and, practically speaking, he knew many females he encountered found him attractive, the same way he knew, logically, that his looks could certainly not be chalked up to his own achievements. But Hyuuga Neji was not interested in anything he could not claim had come from his own talents and triumphs. Therefore no real attention had ever been paid to his effect on the female population –some shinobi didn't scruple to use an accident of birth that had bestowed them with good looks and charm to gain information they may need, but Neji was better than that. Whatever needed to be done could be accomplished with his skills alone.

He had been unprepared for Tenten; he could admit that. He hadn't ever imagined what it would feel like to have Tenten look at him with female appreciation. _He _certainly could never have imagined the thrill that had run down his spine as a consequence of her eyes raking over him. He couldn't imagine why there had been a tiny amount of relief threaded through the overwhelming lust … but he had to concede that if Tenten hadn't taken the initiative the night before he would likely have abstained until his uncle found him a suitable bride. He couldn't imagine it having ever happened with anyone else – not spontaneously, explosively, like last night.

Maybe he _was_ stupid.

Formal clan gatherings, dealing with the older generations, commanding his peers … all of that came easily to Neji, but dealing with Tenten – teammate, sparring-partner, _friend_ Tenten – as a girl and only a girl – who somehow, suddenly, managed to send his mind straight to the gutter and confine it there through no fault or attempt of her own – unsettled him.

Badly.

What was correct protocol in this situation?

Should he pretend nothing had happened? Did he simply go about his usual activities as if he didn't have the imprint of her naked body burned into his mind's eye? What if she was offended by that course of action? Should he attempt to discuss the events of their last night in Suna as rational adults so they could move past it? What if he was making a mountain out of a molehill and, to Tenten, there simply was nothing to discuss? She, being the more experienced one in this scenario, should certainly set the course of action to be followed, in his humble opinion. Should he simply acquiesce to that? Follow her lead of, seemingly, suffering from selective amnesia? Would that be rude? He didn't know much about male-female interaction of any kind but what he did know seemed to indicate that as the man, it was his responsibility to either make it known that he was interested in continuing their … liaison … or ignore the fact that it had occurred at all, thereby indicating his disinclination to persist with such a state of affairs. But she was his friend, and he didn't want her to think that he _thought _less of her, didn't want her to think that he had merely been using her …

Neji frowned, in actuality, if anyone had been used, it had been _him_. His step nearly faltered again as he contemplated the fact that Tenten had turned all the rules upside down and now he was left wondering what to do or not to do. Did the fact that she obviously wasn't physically adverse to his presence mean anything? Or did the fact that she was pretending he didn't exist outweigh any attraction she might feel? What if this was her way of indicating that _she _had no desire for any further … encounters?

Even worse … what if the reason she was avoiding him had nothing to do with anything other than the fact that his … performance… hadn't met with her expectations?

Not even the balance of a ninja could save him this time, as his foot slipped on a patch of moss he hadn't seen because his attention was elsewhere, and as Neji fell, he simply closed his eyes, hoping that the hard meeting with Mother Earth that awaited him would knock his usual sense and practicality back into his head.

* * *

They were all staring at him. It wasn't his imagination anymore, Neji was sure of it. Everywhere he went there were groups of girls, all of whom seemed to have nothing better to do than stare at him appraisingly before returning to their whispered conversations, interspersed with loud giggles.

Neji frowned, dark brows drawing together in a scowl that usually sent the sane running for cover, but that didn't seem to be having much of an effect on the girls. He resisted the urge to run his fingers through his hair or over his clothes; they had returned to Konoha the previous day and a good night's sleep followed by a long shower and a clean set of clothes assured him that the sudden attention could not be because of his appearance.

He stuck his hands deep into his pockets – where he could hide the clenching of his fingers – and fought against his instincts that were trying to force him to the rooftops; a sure way to avoid all the attention. But he was a Hyuuga and Hyuugas did not run away from unpleasantness … if only he could figure out _why _they all suddenly seemed so fascinated with him!

Another giggle followed him down the street and despite his best efforts Neji could not help but overhear snatches of conversation here and there.

"… Suna … Team Kakashi and Team Gai went together …"

Neji froze.

She wouldn't have.

Surely, Tenten would not have been so abysmally stupid as to actually _tell _her friends about what had happened? Sakura would keep it to herself, Neji felt sure, though he still cringed at the thought of anyone knowing … but what if Tenten had told _Ino_? Dear kami-sama in heaven, if she had … well, then even the Hokage would know by now.

What if that was what all of the giggles had been about? What if the entire fucking village knew that, until two days ago, Hyuuga Neji had been as pure as driven snow?

Pearlescent eyes widened as Neji, uncharacteristically, gave in to his emotions; what if Tenten hadn't merely confided knowledge of their activities to her friends but also her sense of … disappointment? Sheer horror sent a shiver dancing down his spine in a way that was anything but pleasant … Naruto would never let him live this down … even worse … Lee and _Gai_ …

Despite the fact that Neji had been raised to respond in stoic silence to whatever fate threw at him, to subscribe unreservedly to the adage that cowboys (and Hyuugas) don't cry, he'd never wanted anything quite as much as he wanted to curl into a ball, sob his heart out, and then disappear. At the moment, the best he could manage was to form the seals with as much dignity as he could muster, vanishing a moment later in a nearly silent swirl of dark-green leaves.

* * *

The moonlight cast an eerie glow, verdant foliage turned to menacing shadow, man-made stone rising in towering patches of black nothingness. Usually his senses would be attuned to any threat that may be lurking in the silent shadows but tonight Neji was anything but himself. He had done his level best to ignore what had happened, to pretend it had never occurred, to look everyone in the eye as if he had nothing at all to hide. Which was true – he didn't have anything to be ashamed of. After the first rush of humiliation had faded, as Neji sat stone-still underneath his favorite tree in the sanctuary of the Hyuuga gardens and attempted to regain his equilibrium through mediation, he had finally come to the conclusion that he must have been mistaken.

Tenten deserved his trust – she had earned it through the years – and until proven otherwise he would believe in her innocence. She wouldn't have told anyone of their interlude; once logic had set in again he had been able to acknowledge that Tenten was hardly the type to kiss and tell; her pride forbade revealing such intimate details to anyone. Of course, that left him right back where he started: with no idea of how to proceed or any clue as to why giggling girls suddenly seemed to be everywhere.

Finally, he had decided that it didn't matter. None of it. Tenten clearly had no compunction about simply getting up and going about her business as if nothing had occurred between them and his practical side agreed with her. There was no room in team work for romantic entanglements. It was as simple as the comfort he had tried to give her before things had spiralled out of control – she'd needed him and though it had gone further than either of them could have predicted he certainly didn't regret it. His unease that Tenten might have regrets had been assuaged by the knowledge that she was nothing if not vociferous – if she had been unhappy or dissatisfied by the state of affairs she would long since have made her feelings known.

That decided, the rest didn't bear thinking about. He would not worry about … performance issues or … emotional issues … or any other kind of issues. Hopefully her fears had been laid to rest and that was really all he had wanted.

Neji hated being out of control, hated not knowing how to proceed or what to do but once the confusing tangle in his head had been meticulously unpicked and assigned to its proper category he'd felt much more like himself again: calm, collected and in control; able to face even Tenten with equanimity. So he had gone home, eaten dinner with his family, and answered his uncle's questions about the mission and Kakashi's state of health, and then read a scroll his uncle had procured – dealing with battle strategy – before deciding to go to bed.

His bedroom was Spartan. Clean lines, and light, was important if one wanted to function with composure and Neji's furniture - bed, desk and bedside table – was of light wood. His bed had beckoned with all the comfort the soft mattress, white sheets and dark-blue blanket could provide and he had gladly succumbed to the temptation of going to bed early after the emotional upheavals of the last forty-eight hours.

But the dreams had been … unsettling.

For a long time, Neji had tossed and turned, somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, as images and barely suppressed memories flashed through his mind. The way her lower lip trembled when he'd run his thumb along the kiss-swollen seam of her mouth, the way she'd felt pressed against him, surrounding him, her nails raking pleasure-pain down his spine…

His control was unparalleled in one of his age – if Uchiha Itachi hadn't been a subject most villagers tried to forget on a daily basis Neji was sure he was comparable only to the Uchiha heir in terms of collected calm and control – therefore hormones had never been as much of an issue for him as for his peers. In fact, Neji couldn't recall ever having a wet dream after the initial rush of puberty and his subsequent quest to control his suddenly wayward body. One night with Tenten was apparently enough to undo years of carefully suppressed and buried wants and needs and Neji had woken just as he'd begun to spend himself into her.

As he lay panting, defences down, he'd allowed himself the momentary weakness of remembering; of feeling her body wrapped around his, her mouth moving persuasively over his lips …

And it had hit him.

Practical Neji, level-headed Neji; careful, controlled, cautious Neji had fucked up.

Royally.

Because practical Neji had turned into sex-crazed Neji somewhere between Tenten's first careful kiss and the feeling of her body clenching tightly around his fingers, and after that he hadn't given the first thought to anything that was remotely logical or practical or even anywhere near fucking common sense. He hadn't thought of protection; suggesting it himself or even just asking Tenten if it was okay …

All of which led him to where he was at the moment: rushing as quietly as he was capable of through the dark and silent streets of his home with barely leashed panic dogging his heels.

He didn't care if it was one in the morning, didn't care that she had been carefully avoiding him for the last few days, he didn't even care very much that the coming confrontation would require him to swallow his pride and admit that he had been wrong.

What if this was the reason that Tenten had been avoiding him? What if, in her usual idiotic Tenten way, she somehow thought that she had to bear such a burden alone? What if she had been quietly panicking about an unplanned pregnancy all the while he worried about inconsequential matters such as what strangers thought they knew of him?

Neji groaned quietly.

Hiashi was going to kill him – if Tenten didn't get there first.

* * *

With a sigh Tenten turned slowly onto her back, folding her arms beneath her head as she stared unseeingly at the shadow-speckled banner that was her bedroom ceiling. Sleep eluded her. Fear no longer ruled night-time for her but peaceful, blessed, unconsciousness on a nightly basis seemed to be a thing of the past. Since the night she'd spent with Neji, the Akatsuki member no longer starred in her dreams, she didn't look for him in the shadowy corners of her bedroom as her eyes flew wide open after death claimed her in a dream.

Instead all she saw was Neji.

A groan slipped past her lips despite her best efforts to control it and Tenten buried her blushing face in the pillow as she curled into a ball of mortification. She didn't even want to _begin_ to think what Neji must think of her now. That she was a total nymphomaniac she couldn't blame him for thinking. What kind of person stole into her teammate – her friend's – bedroom in the dead of night and then proceeded to throw herself at him as if the excuse of a nightmare could ever possibly justify such behavior?

She'd woken up two days ago with Neji's arm heavy around her waist, her back pressed against his chest and she had felt so … _safe_ … that even the thought of a nightmare or of ever being afraid of anything as long as Neji was around had been nearly laughable. Of course, reality soon enough reared its ugly head and, terrified that she would open her big mouth and totally alienate him by blurting out the thoughts that her crazy mind seemed to have come up with out of nowhere, Tenten had done the only thing that had made sense.

She bolted.

As she'd gathered her clothes as quietly as she was capable of, all the while sending small prayers heaven-ward that Neji remain asleep for just another few seconds, she'd managed to suppress those thoughts but not the feelings they'd generated. Despite the way she'd taken the lead, out of necessity, the night before, Tenten would not call herself experienced. She certainly had _no _idea of how to proceed, what to do or say to make it okay between them again, but once she'd reached the relative safety of her own bedroom she'd finally managed to breathe and resolved that she would do nothing. She'd done enough. Truthfully, Tenten was afraid of what would happen if she allowed herself free-rein … so, she'd done what shinobi are taught to do – she'd compartmentalized. The shivers, the moans, the pleasure that had been so sorely lacking in her first sexual encounter had been firmly placed into a box she had no intention of ever revisiting, much less opening.

Unless Neji did.

If he wanted more … wanted _her_ …well, Tenten hadn't trusted herself enough to even complete that thought. So, in that awkward, girly way she hated Tenten had ignored him. And refused to acknowledge how much the fact that he ignored her right back had stung.

She'd thought that everything would miraculously be buried, done and dusted, once they returned to Konoha but being home had made no difference. The last two days had passed without so much as a glimpse of her friend and Tenten had been hard-pressed to not give herself over to the urge to cry as she'd contemplated how badly she'd screwed up.

The truth was, they had all been right – all of those women who had warned her that once you took the step to sex there was no going back to holding hands. Even if the initial sexual contact hadn't been with Neji, she'd wanted him that last night in Suna in a way that she'd never wanted anything before … the way a woman wanted a man … there was no way she could have settled for a few steamy kisses and burning touches when the ache in her body told her quite eloquently exactly what she wanted from him.

All kunoichi received the same instruction once they turned fifteen. Even if Konoha would never send an underage kunoichi on a seduction mission unless life or death was at stake they were all still required to _learn_. So the day after her fifteenth birthday Tenten had reported to the Jounin instructor assigned to her and learn Tenten had; the way she did everything else … to the best of her ability.

Then only two short months after her (embarrassing) instruction in seduction had come the mission with Lee – the first time the Hokage trusted just the two of them to recon a target – and she had been so _proud_ to think that Tsunade-sama thought highly enough of her to entrust her with an A-rank spying mission and Lee to boot. Lee and undercover were two words that couldn't be reconciled however, no matter how she'd tried. It had been the most harrowing two weeks of her life; treading the fine line between hurting her friend's feelings by letting on how useless he was to her in such a setting and actually getting the information the Hokage had asked her to retrieve. She'd never thought she'd miss Neji as much as she had in those days; whenever Team Gai needed to gather information it was automatically Neji and Tenten's responsibility – Gai was an excellent ninja and as such knew his own failings and his pupils' and therefore, though he was quite capable of sneaking around sufficiently when required, he knew that Lee was not. They all loved Lee; no one was more fiercely proud of his accomplishments than the rest of Team Gai, no one trusted his combat abilities as much as the three of them but the fact simply was that Lee was as unsuited to stealth as Naruto. Worse maybe.

She'd thought she'd done well; she'd infiltrated the inn where the target was staying, she'd gained entry to his room while he was having dinner and she'd gotten the documents the village needed to confirm his assassination all while leaving Lee safely outside, standing guard, and thereby keeping him from giving the game away. What she hadn't bargained on was her inability to lie convincingly to her friends and Lee's perception.

Tenten sighed as she allowed the memories to rise up, a hand running through the tangled brown locks that spread on her pillow. As long as she was wallowing in misery she might as well do it properly …

She'd been about to exit the inn, with all the speed and silence she could muster, when Lee had suddenly entered the room. Screaming was what she wanted to do but she'd forced herself to be professional, leaving the berating him for going off plan for later. And everything would have been fine if the window hadn't been barred shut and if the target she was investigating hadn't decided to come back to his room early. There was no place to hide, no _time_, and above all, she refused to fail her mission and risk her friend's life when there were other weapons at her disposal. She couldn't kill the target, not without possible serious repercussions – the information she now carried was what would enable the Hokage to determine the target's threat and Tenten refused to take a life unnecessarily. Killing the target was also not in the mission parameters and the one thing that Neji's leadership had instilled in her was that going off plan and against the advice of your superiors was a good way to get yourself killed. Not to mention the fact that it could, in all possibility, cost Konoha a client, loss of revenue and loss of reputation they could ill afford, if she killed the man now.

So, she'd done the first thing that had come into her head, she'd bundled Lee into the closet and taken a demure stance by the window as the target and his two bodyguards entered the room. From her observations of the target she'd deduced that he was exactly the kind of man to appreciate a complimentary prostitute provided by the establishment – he was arrogant enough to believe that he was important enough for such treatment – so that was what she pretended to be. The bodyguards had been dismissed – though they hadn't gone far – and Tenten had swallowed her trepidations and forced herself to follow through on her course of action. For the first time she'd used the bottle of lubrication that became standard kunoichi gear after their lessons in sex, excusing herself to the bathroom to make herself appear credible and ensure that she was not bristling with kunai and shuriken, and she'd been proud when she managed to keep the tears that had threatened the entire time at bay while the horrible man grunted and groaned above her. At his most vulnerable after climax she'd taken her chance and knocked him out, checked that the coast was clear and got herself and Lee the hell out of there.

Neither of them had ever mentioned it. Truthfully, Tenten wasn't sure how much Lee was aware of, having been bundled into a closed closet, and they hadn't been excessively loud. So she'd stayed silent, even in her report to the Hokage. Admitting what she'd done would be admitting to failure … not only hers as a team leader but Lee's as well and the last thing she wanted was any more setbacks for her friend on his chosen path. So, she'd forced herself to repress those memories, forced herself to seek rape counselling in a nearby civilian town and eventually she'd gotten over the entire episode; chalking it up to doing what had to be done, much like the first time she'd killed someone. But the rushed fumbling, burning pain and the feeling of being dirty had been the sole associations she had with sex after that fateful mission. Until Neji.

And now she had no idea of what to do or what to say or even if she shouldn't just become a missing-nin and save both of them a lot of agonizing embarrassment.

Did the fact that he ignored her now mean that he hadn't enjoyed it? Had he been put off by her body? Did _he _feel used; resentful and angry because she'd essentially forced him to do something Neji would never have contemplated doing under normal circumstances? Did he want her to ignore what had happened or was he waiting for her to make the first move?

She was so caught up in the whirlwind of thoughts, the rollercoaster of emotion – unsure if she should be angry at Neji or at herself or if she should just crawl under her bed and never emerge again - she didn't notice his chakra approaching. Which was strange in and of itself because Neji always masked his chakra except in his own home; therefore the lack of masking would immediately have tipped her off that something was not right with the object of her increasingly frantic and panicked thoughts.

However, as it stood, Tenten was far too caught up in her meandering thoughts and wildly fluctuating emotions and she nearly jumped through the roof, fingers automatically scrabbling for the kunai she kept under her pillow while she slept, when the hesitant knock sounded at her door. Before she'd realized it, she was at the front door of her apartment, heart pounding fretfully in the cage of her ribs as she stood quietly and listened for any clues as to who might be knocking on her door in the middle of the night. His presence, his chakra, flowed soothingly over her senses and Tenten instinctively relaxed before she remembered that Neji was decidedly the _last _person on this earth that she wished to see.

Guilt burned through the hesitation when she turned away from the door, standing indecisively, the instinctive need to pretend she was asleep and hadn't heard him flowing away like dead leaves in an autumn wind, and Tenten took a deep breath. Offense before defence, she decided grimly as she gripped the doorknob and unlocked the door. Quickly opening the door before she lost her nerve she stared at a decidedly pale and panicked looking Neji for a moment before it became apparent that he wasn't about to speak first despite being the one to wake her up.

"I sincerely hope you haven't got some misguided idea that what happened in Suna automatically entitles you to a booty call."

The words were out, harsh and uncalled for, and Tenten hated the contrition that almost immediately had her trying to recall her words. He deserved a few harsh words after having ignored her, at the very least …

"Nevermind, I know you didn't. I'm just grumpy because you woke me up," she lied as convincingly as she could and stared expectantly at the Hyuuga, "what can I do for you at one in the morning, Neji?"

The sarcasm seemed to flow right over his head and to Tenten's surprise he shot her a quick, almost hesitant look, before pushing past her and walking into her living room. For a moment she remained rooted to the spot, completely thrown by the usually polite and mannered Neji's rudeness but then she shrugged and closed the door – they had to get this over with sometime and there was no time like the present. She'd barely re-entered her small living room, hadn't really had a chance to assimilate and adjust to this new development, couldn't begin to think of how to apologize or ever make him trust her again, when the sound of her name startled her from her thoughts. Neji spoke so seriously that she couldn't help but glance at him in alarm, immediately shelving all personal matters.

"Yes?" she asked, hesitantly, almost afraid of what he would tell her, not wanting to hear about whatever disaster he was the harbinger of.

Silence met her softly-spoken query, did nothing to still the fear running through her veins but then Neji spoke and her legs gave out from under her in sheer shock. Of all the things she'd been imagining he might say _this_ was the last thing she would have thought would bring Neji to her door at one in the morning, with the air of someone having died.

"How long before we know if you're pregnant or not?"

* * *

_**A/n: So, I must admit that writing Neji fretting about his 'performance' was more fun than should be allowed xD Haha. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave me a review to help me get back into the swing of things ^^**_


	4. Aftermath

_**a/n: I seem to find myself apologizing an awful lot xD … and after you've all been so awesome and left such lovely reviews, too! I'm really sorry, but I have no real excuse – my muse is a terrible, terrible person who refuses to allow me to focus on what I want. Recently, she's redirected my creative energies into Fairy Tail fanfics, so if you like that anime/manga be sure to check out the stories, I'd appreciate that ^^ That being said, it's not that I've got a block with OTW, it's more that the muse is making me drag every word out of her inch by painful inch. So. That's why updates are so slow in coming xD BUT … rest assured, I will NOT abandon this fic. I'm seeing it through to the end despite a slow update schedule. I hope you can all forgive me and that you're all still interested in the story! Thank you to everyone for your support!**_

_**Warnings: this fic is rated M**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters used in this story; they are the sole property of Kishimoto-san.**_

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Aftermath**_

"That's what you came down here in the middle of the night for?" The silence seemed to tear beneath the weight of her words. "You ignore me for _days_ and then you don't apologize or … or … _explain_ … instead you _demand_ to know if I'm pregnant or not?"

Tenten's voice rose to a shriek, bitten off suddenly at the end, as if she wished she could recall the words but it was too late for that; too late to retract and retrace, to pretend as if none of it affected her. Neji had taken a small step backwards, visibly taken aback by the venom in her tone and Tenten could feel the last shreds of endurance crumble and break beneath the ice-cold stare he levelled at her. He opened his mouth; closed it again as if the words wouldn't come, but the threatening tears didn't leave any time to spare for considering Neji's thoughts and feelings. They were fairly obvious, regardless. The barely suppressed horror, the badly hidden anxiety … as if his most hated nightmares were becoming reality in front of his eyes. She'd wondered how he felt, what he thought, and now she had her answer; clearly, no matter how explosive the sex, it was something he would go to his grave regretting.

She had to get rid of him. Now.

Blinking rapidly against the onset of the traitorous tears – how had she ever entertained the thought, if only for a moment, that Neji might seriously consider one night in Suna the start of something deeper – Tenten turned and marched towards the front door. Her hand reached for the knob and she sent a fervent prayer heaven-ward that he wouldn't notice the way her fingers trembled before they curled around the hard metal. The smooth, cold touch anchored her … reminded her of the fact that nothing was as important in this moment as saving at least a little face. She couldn't cry in front of him, wouldn't. Never again.

"I promise that you'll be the first to know as soon as there is something to know," she said in a low voice, thankful that the tears didn't show in the sound.

Without waiting for a reply, and firmly leaving her gaze fixed on the floorboards, Tenten pulled the door open. She didn't know of a way to make the dismissal any clearer, short of telling him to leave, and she knew that Neji wouldn't want to linger any more than she wanted him to stay, but still his footsteps seemed impossibly slow, the stride far too reluctant for her liking.

_Please, Neji. Just leave. I – I … just leave._

As if hearing her unspoken words, or maybe just respecting her obvious wishes, Neji silently moved out into the hallway. She could feel his eyes searching, roving over her, looking for any sign or signal of what she might be feeling but she was careful to keep her body language from giving anything away and refused to meet his eyes.

She sensed, more than saw, as he opened his mouth but what he had to say after her outburst was not something she wanted to hear and Tenten quickly closed the door. The soft click of the lock should have been reassuring, proof that she was alone and could give in to her feelings, but with the ghost of Neji's searching gaze still lingering on her Tenten couldn't relax. Slow and steady, she made her way back to bed, the welcoming embrace of sheets and comforter and fluffy pillows suddenly the most inviting thing in the world, and it was only when she collapsed face first into the pile of bedclothes that the tears came in blessed catharsis.

* * *

The dark wood of Tenten's front door shut inches from his nose, just as Neji whirled around and opened his mouth – to apologize or to give release to the swirling anger in his veins, he wasn't sure. It hadn't gone at all as he'd planned it out in his mind on the way over. He'd had some vague thought of Tenten laughing, reassuring him that he was worrying for nothing; a return of the camaraderie he'd always enjoyed with her. He certainly hadn't been expecting … this. Beneath the anger was the hesitant touch of bewilderment – what had brought the vitriol spilling from her lips? Why was she angry when she was quite obviously the one who had wanted him to ignore her? Wasn't his behavior exactly what she'd expected from him?

Anger won the round, bewilderment retreating to the darkest corners of his mind, as red flashed across his vision. Where did she get off yelling at him? What right did she have to be even a little put-out? As far as he could see, he'd fulfilled his role to perfection. With careful deliberation, allowing his feet to lead him back along the path he'd followed to Tenten's apartment, Neji combed through his memories. Only this time, instead of focusing on the way she'd felt and the way she'd made him feel, he concentrated on the bits in between …

Righteousness rose to accompany the anger as he melted into the shadows around the buildings, barely paying any attention to his surroundings. He had been used, if anyone had the right to be angry it was him. She hadn't wanted _Neji_; anyone would have sufficed and he'd been all that was on offer. She'd wanted comfort of the physical kind and he'd given her what she wanted. She was the one who had ignored him first and he'd merely been respecting her obvious wishes in the matter by giving her the space she'd clearly craved …

He shook his head violently, dark hair fanning out behind his head to melt into the darkness. No matter which way he looked at it he couldn't find fault with his actions; he couldn't begin to understand what part Tenten had taken exception to. All he'd done was try to help her, to please her …

Shock registered in the wake of the last thought, brought him to a complete standstill in the middle of a quiet, moon-swept street.

When had her happiness become so important to him?

For the first time Neji allowed himself to look past the potential problems of an unplanned pregnancy; tried to imagine what having a family – a real one – would be like. It was vague, and filled with shadows, but Tenten shone clearly; such a big part of his life already that she would easily shift into being present day in and day out.

It doused the last flames of anger, even as the images disappeared, and he couldn't help but try to view the entire situation from her point of view. How would he have reacted if the places had been reversed? A slight grimace pulled at his lips; he could imagine, easily now, how his barely repressed panic must have seemed to her – as if he regretted every part of it and wanted nothing to do with her. Reluctantly he admitted that maybe barging in the door and leading with the most pressing question hadn't been the best way to handle it.

One hand raised slowly, brushed his bangs off his forehead before trembling fingers swept down his eyes and to his jaw, as Neji remained exactly where he was and tried to puzzle out exactly what it was that he should do next. The minutes ticked slowly past, but Neji was oblivious of the passage of time as he ran over everything he knew again – suddenly focused on the shy smiles, the hesitant touches and the way she instinctively squirmed away from his first careful caresses as if she hadn't been entirely sure of what to expect …

A low groan rumbled in his chest and Neji bit his lower lip hard enough to taste blood as he realized how wrong he had been. In his inexperience he'd assumed too many things; jumped to all the wrong conclusions – the simple fact was that Tenten hadn't been avoiding him, she'd been embarrassed and shy, unsure of how to proceed.

Determination thinned his lips into a tight line; he would get it right this time. At tomorrow's training session he would apologize, explain himself, and she would listen whether she wanted to or not.

* * *

Tenten handled the scrolls with ease born of long practice; the paper furling and unfurling beneath her nimble fingers like ribbons of the finest silk. She twirled and the scrolls twirled with her, winding around her, drifting on the air currents as she manipulated them with the innate skill that only Tenten had ever been able to manage when it came to summoning. Weapons exploded into being; hurled at Neji with deadly accuracy despite the dark circles that lined her chocolate eyes.

Warily watching the almost cruel twist to her lips, Neji sighed as he positioned his body and started the first of the revolutions that would result in a cage of chakra surrounding his body and would deflect anything she threw at him. He'd lost count of the amount of times he'd had to resort to using Kaiten today; it wasn't so much a training session as it was a case of Neji serving as a target for Tenten. A target she was very determined to rip to shreds.

Wearily he slowed enough to see that the coast was clear, the latest wave of weapons lying depleted around his feet while Tenten sank back to the ground in a graceful crouch, furling the scrolls with a scowl pinching her features into a mask of anger. Contrarily, Neji couldn't help the surge of satisfaction at her expression; despite her best attempts, despite the way she'd improved by leaps and bounds since becoming a Chuunin, she still wasn't able to hit him without resorting to playing dirty. Deep down Neji was grateful for even that much of a concession from the obviously enraged girl facing him across the field littered with deep craters from his avoidance techniques, and speckled with steel weapons that sparkled in the late afternoon sunlight. No matter how angry she might be at him she hadn't been able to bring herself to aim for the Byakugan's blind-spot.

He'd been prepared; throughout the sleepless night, as he'd tried to formulate the words he wanted to speak to her, he'd already been planning on defensive manoeuvring. Knowing Tenten she would work through the lingering anger by trying to embed as many kunai into his flesh as she possibly could so he'd resolved to allow her the opportunity to get rid of the anger without actually allowing any of the weapons to hit him. But it was wearying; using Kaiten too often and for protracted periods of time always drained him and they'd been at it since early that morning, only stopping for a brief lunch break joined by Gai and Lee. The other two members of Team Gai had long since disappeared, off on another ridiculous training exercise Neji was sure.

He held up a hand, gesturing that Tenten should wait a while before launching another attack and took a few deep breaths; he was at the limit of his chakra; any more and he would collapse. There was no way he could weather another endless barrage of sharply pointed objects. His mouth thinned; he'd also resolved to respect the distance they were capable of giving each other in a battle, well aware that Tenten probably didn't want to be within touching distance of him at the moment. Tenten was a long-range fighter, preferring distance between her and her targets, he understood that, but the only rule Team Gai really had was to never give up. Add to that their deeply competitive natures and Neji knew that neither of them would ever concede to stop, not in their current moods. He had to end this spar and he had to end it quick. Unfortunately that would involve getting close.

He took a deep breath, moved into the kata and waited for Tenten to get into position too. From the corner of his vision he could just see the way her chakra flared and pulsed with her emotions and that settled the matter. Clearly she wasn't going to get it out of her system any time soon and he closed his eyes briefly, listening carefully to the sound of scrolls unfurling.

Speed, strength, that was the only way to win against Tenten; this he knew from bitter experience. With her accuracy, any weapon she wielded could be deadly and had to be treated as such. So he'd pushed himself, honing his already above-average speed until he could attack faster than she could throw. Despite the way Tenten had learned to channel chakra into axes and swords and weapons that were patently too heavy for a girl of her stature to lift, he was still naturally stronger. Long hours of working together had taught him the only way to win against Tenten was to overwhelm her, quickly and efficiently. She could last far longer than he could, her techniques not nearly as much of a drain on her chakra as his.

When the moment came, he was ready. That split second, where Tenten glanced down as she opened a scroll – her only real weakness, one she'd never managed to unlearn – was enough. By the time she was ready, eyes once again focused on her opponent, he had disappeared. She knew what was coming; long experience would have taught her the same familiarity with his favorite moves, and she was already turning when he moved into position behind her.

But she was too late, and if the fury blazing from her eyes was any indication she'd already realized that fact too. Three quick strikes, one to her shoulder, numbing her arm so she dropped the katana she'd drawn in preparation of a closer battle; another just below her ribs, not hard enough to knock the breath out of her but enough to draw a gasp, and the final one to her thigh so her leg gave way beneath her. Quick, contained motion had Neji whirling away from her before she had a chance to use the other hand to skewer him with something and he drew to a halt a foot away.

Tenten was sitting on the ground, glaring up at him, as she rubbed her free hand over her thigh and shoulder in turn, still breathing hard.

"I yield," he said quietly, meeting her gaze and relaxing into a normal standing position.

"Easy for you to say now you've won," she returned bitterly, struggling to get to her feet but her leg was still uncooperative and she winced as she slid back to the ground.

Ever alert, attuned to everything as a proper shinobi ought to be, Neji's eyes narrowed. He hadn't hit her nearly hard enough to cause that level of discomfort; she should have been able to get to her feet almost immediately after he'd withdrawn.

"What is it?" he asked sharply, already in a crouch beside her when she began to protest.

A brief tug of war ensued, as Neji pulled at the cloth that covered her leg and Tenten tried to pull her leg away, but, patience finally at an end, he swore under his breath and grabbed at the nearest kunai lying abandoned on the ground. It was razor sharp – not that he would have expected anything less from Tenten - and sliced quickly through the fabric from her calf to her hip-bone.

"What the hell? Neji!" she shrieked in protest, grabbing at the edges of the crimson fabric gaping around her leg.

Disdaining to answer her, he simply laid the kunai down next to him, having learned to respect Tenten's tools after the first time she'd sliced his unwary hand as he dropped a precious kunai uncaringly, and reached for the fabric. He brushed her hands away as she slapped at him, finally resorting to pinning both of them against her other thigh with one of his. His look of exasperated impatience was met by a defying glare from Tenten but she only bit her lip as his free hand gently pulled the fabric away from her skin.

A deep breath puffed into the air between them as Neji stared in disbelief at the deep gash on her thigh, perpendicular to the bone, raw and bleeding anew from the force inflicted when he'd struck her moments ago.

"That wasn't there a few days ago," he muttered into the silence, wondering why she hadn't gone to the hospital for treatment. The cut, though not long, definitely warranted a couple of stitches at the very least.

He could almost hear her choke and silently cursed the thoughtless words, but before he could try to save the situation she spoke up, haltingly and unwillingly, but the first time she'd spoken to him all day.

"It happened yesterday, it's nothing serious. I got careless when I cleaned my weapons after the mission, is all."

In silence they stared at the weeping red line that stood in stark contrast to the pale skin surrounding it.

With a sigh Neji released her hands and sank to the ground beside her.

"It will scar," he said finally.

"So?" she returned sharply, "what's a shinobi without a few scars."

"It must hurt," he tried again, after a moment, "let's just go to the hospital and get a dressing for it, at least?"

She didn't reply and for the moment Neji let her be, staring at the cut with detached curiosity as his thoughts whirled a mile a minute. Slowly, hesitantly, he reached out and stroked softly over her skin, just above the knee, hoping she would interpret the conciliatory gesture as such.

"There's no reason to walk around in pain when there's an alternative," he tried to reason with her.

Tenten huffed an impatient breath and tried to gather the fabric around her leg, "Let it go, Neji. What do you care anyway? It's just a stupid cut."

Despite the hours spent planning, selecting the perfect words, now that the moment was upon him, Neji found that all his carefully chosen phrases flew out the window. He reached out, curled his fingers around her smaller hand, stilling the movement, and Tenten abandoned the futile attempt at covering her leg. When he still didn't release her hand, kept staring at their hands lying in her lap, her gaze turned to his face. He could feel the probing stare, the wary way she searched for answers in his expression.

"Last night … I handled it badly. Before that even," he started slowly, hating how the apology stuck in his throat. He took a deep breath and plowed ahead; now that he'd started he raced towards the finish line, feeling only relief after a long night spent agonizing over what to say.

"I didn't know how to act after … after Suna. I wasn't ignoring you, or avoiding you. I just … followed your lead. If that was wrong, then I apologize."

Neji firmly tried to ignore the stiff sound to the apology, hoping that she would read the sincerity beneath the inadequate words. To his surprise a soft huff of laughter greeted his hard-won apology and he instinctively glanced up; light eyes filled with reproach.

Tenten covered her face with her hands to try and muffle the laughter and, to his consternation, the shake of her shoulders was accompanied by the distinct sound of a sob.

"Oh, Neji … I'm sorry, I know how much it cost you to say that but it's just …" her voice trailed away helplessly, convulsing again into a mixture of laughter and tears.

He frowned when she glanced at him from between her fingers and sat back, not sure what to say or to do with the hysterical girl in front of him. Finally, she took a trembling breath and placed her hands in her lap, folded neatly.

"I didn't mean to laugh at you," she started, "No, I wasn't laughing at you – more at the situation," she corrected, "I didn't know how to act either … after."

The admission was softly spoken, but she finally risked raising her eyes to his and Neji took advantage of that fact to quickly, earnestly, press his point.

"I just don't want you to think that you have to handle any potential problems on your own."

The relief was nearly overwhelming and Neji blew out a deep breath, leaned back on his hands and waited for Tenten to reply. It was done; he'd explained his reasoning as best he could and if she wasn't satisfied with that then there was nothing else he could do. The silence stretched on and on and he finally gathered the courage to quickly glance at her.

Tenten was staring at him, head cocked to the side and a strange, speculative expression on her face but when their eyes met she quickly shook her head.

"I know," she said quietly and reached out one hand to him, "friends?"

Decisively, Neji nodded and took her hand, pulling her to her feet along with him.

"Now, you really should get that cut looked at."

* * *

_**a/n: Shorter than normal, I know. But I felt that this section, this interaction, was important enough to warrant its own chapter ^^ Please review and tell me what you thought!**_


	5. A Fresh Start

_**a/n: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed/faved/alerted the story! This chapter has been re-written at least once a week for the last month xD No matter how I approached it or how I swapped ideas around or rearranged planned events … nothing seemed to make it flow better or read more smoothly. SO. I feel sososo bad about making all of you wait so long only to gift you with a decidedly horrible chapter but I figured it was better than nothing xD Hopefully, future chapters will be up to scratch again but I'd appreciate any con-crit you guys can think of – but please be nice or I might cry xD**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters used in this story and I make no money from the writing of it**_

* * *

_**Chapter 4: A Fresh Start**_

Despite her best intentions Tenten couldn't quite manage to pretend as if nothing had happened. She didn't miss the way Neji would sometimes stare at her – thoughtfully, almost pensive – and she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking of when he watched her so intently. Was he wondering what they would do if she was pregnant? Or was it something deeper that furrowed his brow and shadowed his eyes? Was it mere wishful thinking on her part to even contemplate the idea that Neji could have any feeling for her beyond that of a teammate and a trusted friend?

Tenten vigorously shook her head, firmly forcing all thoughts of Neji and their suddenly convoluted relationship from her mind. They'd barely been home for a week before Tsunade-sama had assigned Team Gai another mission – this one standard escort, thankfully. They would leave at dawn the next day and Tenten was on her way to visit her mother before setting off again.

The small house where she had grown up loomed in front of her, at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, neat and carefully maintained as always, and Tenten frantically pushed thoughts of what her mother would say if she came home to announce that she was bearing Hyuuga Neji's child away. That was decidedly the _last_ thing she needed to worry about at the moment. She quietly let herself in the front door, making sure to make at least a little noise so her mother wouldn't get a fright if she suddenly appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.

Muted music drifted along with the smell of food from the back of the small house and Tenten smiled slightly; she could already picture it, her mother, with a brightly colored apron wrapped around her still-slim figure, swaying slightly to the rhythm of the music as she stirred whatever it was that was releasing such tantalizing smells into the air. Carefully, Tenten pushed all of the worries and upheavals of the last week to the very back of her mind, her mother was nothing if not observant, and forced herself to focus only on the rare chance to spend an entire day with her surviving parent.

"Mother?" she called while still out in the hallway, more to announce her presence in case the older woman hadn't heard her approach than because she didn't know where to find her.

"Tenten, I'm in here," the other called back.

Moments later Tenten was enveloped in a warm hug, followed by scolding reprimands regarding the state of her: she was too thin, too drawn-out; she wasn't taking proper care of herself. But Tenten merely smiled and waved the concern away, reassuring her mother that she was fine, had never been healthier. She was quickly installed at the kitchen counter, paring knife in hand, as her mother set her to work, and the time passed pleasantly as they caught up on the recent happenings in each other's lives. Inevitably, the talk turned to the baby Tenten's cousin had just had and she was forced to grit her teeth while her mother hinted wistfully that perhaps it was about time for Tenten to think about retiring and settling down with her own family.

"I have plenty of family, Mother." The laugh that accompanied the words were light and airy, no hint of the inner turmoil present in her expression or gestures.

"You're still spending an awful lot of time with that Hyuuga boy, I take it," Amaya sniffed disapprovingly, shooting Tenten a reproachful glare from the corner of her eye.

Tenten could feel the way her gaze suddenly turned stony, the way her expression hardened, and she fought with all her might to keep from rising to the comment; they had this argument with disturbing regularity and the last thing she felt like doing was fighting with her mother.

Another sniff, "I really wish you would face reality, Tenten. He's no good for you."

Her daughter's mouth opened to protest, sudden flashes of heated anger in the usually tranquil hazel-brown eyes, but Amaya waved the wooden spoon in her hand dismissively, uncaring of soup that went flying.

"Oh, you can deny it all you want, my girl. I know you. I raised you, didn't I? I've said it before and I'll say it again: stop pining after him. I don't care how good-looking and talented he is, he's a branch member of the Hyuuga. What kind of life could he offer you? What of your children, kami forbid you should have any with him." Amaya shuddered delicately, turning back to her stirring.

For a moment silence reigned in the small kitchen though each was aware of the other's simmering anger; ever since Tenten had been twelve years old they'd been having this conversation at least once a week. The more Tenten denied feeling anything for Neji beyond friendship and admiration for his skills, the more adamantly her mother insisted that she wasn't stupid; she could _see _how Tenten felt about the Hyuuga. It was always followed by a reprimanding tirade about how Tenten could do better, how Neji was merely a branch member of the Hyuuga and, no matter how much of a prodigy he might be, he would never be more than a servant. Amaya had raised her daughter to have higher expectations of life than that, after all.

The elder woman cleared her throat, and Tenten was jolted from her thoughts, her teeth gritted and a death grip on the paring knife. Carefully, she unclenched her fingers and spoke evenly, hoping that her calm words would avert the usual fight.

"I've told you before, Mother. Neji's my friend, nothing more."

Every particle of her being ached to tell her mother that he was worth more than the entire damned Hyuuga clan he'd been bound to serve, that he would rise above them all and prove that he was more than what the world labelled him. As always, Tenten could barely keep from defending Neji with all the protectiveness that she hid from him on a daily basis but felt nonetheless. Before the words could escape, and fuel the flames of the argument her mother was clearly spoiling to have, Tenten bit down on her tongue. Silently, she apologized to Neji for her lack of defence of him but she carefully turned her attention back to the vegetables and steered the conversation in a different direction. For the rest of her visit, no further mention of her teammate was made and, late that night, when Tenten hugged her mother goodbye, they parted on good terms; something Tenten always ensured happened before she went out on a mission. She'd seen too many people torn apart by the parting words they'd delivered to their loved ones, only to find that they would never have a chance to make it right.

When she finally crawled into bed that night, scrolls packed and ready for the morning, she drifted off to sleep with a slight smile on her face and only a twinge of regret – her mother's face would have been priceless if she had informed Amaya of her and Neji's possible impending parenthood.

* * *

Never had Neji thought he would actually regret taking an A-rank mission. But the longer the day dragged on, the more he came to regret that Tsunade had ever offered this mission to Team Gai. It was standard escort for the most part – an important businessman, who had made some enemies in the expansion of his empire, and his retinue of personal assistants. A slight sneer pulled at the corners of his mouth as Neji raked a disdainful gaze over the civilians just in front of him. What did one man need so many assistants for, anyway? Was he incapable of pushing his own papers? Were his assistants so incompetent that they could each only manage one single task?

Neji shook his head and forced himself to sweep the perimeter again; as usual he was bringing up the rear, Byakugan activated to ensure that they weren't being followed. There was nothing but dappled sunlight lancing through the canopy of leaves high above their heads and a slight breeze ruffling through the branches. Gai and Lee were out in front of the group, sweeping a few feet ahead to ensure that the path was clear. But the real problem was Tenten. As the most socially adept member of Team Gai it inevitably fell to her to stay with the clients they escorted but, this time, Neji felt she was making far more effort than was actually required.

He gritted his teeth as another giggle drifted back to him; all morning Tenten had been conversing with the businessman's assistants – a gaggle of young men who couldn't seem to get enough of Tenten's company. It was almost like a competition as they tried to see who could charm her the most. Silently, Neji vowed to take her aside the first chance he got. Apparently she was a lot more naïve than he would've thought, given her sexual experience, but judging by the honest laughter and slight blushes as the compliments flowed over her head, she really had no idea of what men were like.

A slight shudder of apprehension ran down Neji's spine; what if Tenten was pregnant and they had a daughter? She was bound to be just as innocently engaging as her mother and … his jaw locked and he could've sworn he heard enamel cracking … he would castrate the first male stupid enough to get within _shouting _distance …

"Neji!"

The sound of his name ringing through the still air of the surrounding forest jerked him from the dark thoughts and Neji nearly walked straight into the group of people they were escorting; people he had been doing his utmost to ignore and avoid.

Tenten cocked her head to the side, her gaze almost concerned as she put her hands on her hips and said evenly, "We're stopping for lunch, Neji."

He nodded curtly, just barely refraining from levelling her with a glare. It was entirely her fault, he reasoned. He never would've thought of her as anything other than a teammate if it hadn't been for her bout of cowardice over one Akatsuki member…

"I'll fetch some water," he muttered, pushing past her without glancing in her direction again, though he could feel the almost reproachful glare she fixed on his swiftly retreating back.

A stream wound through the trees a few meters away; hidden from the clearing though not far enough away that he would be out of reach in case of trouble, and Neji sighed in relief when the sparkling water came into view. A few agitated strides brought him right to the riverbank where he finally stood quietly, staring into the burbling water. For once the peace of nature did nothing to resolve the troubled thoughts whirling in his head. The quiet of the forest – though broken by birdsong and the rushing of the water below him – seemed almost unnatural. The light was too bright and the colors too vivid. His heart was pounding much too fast and his hearing was strained to its limit as he tried to latch onto the elusive sound of feminine laughter that drifted in the wind. Why was he feeling so off-balance? Why did the sight of some harmless flirtation between Tenten and people she would never see again bother him so much? He had no claim on her after all …

But the truth was that he knew exactly why it bothered him so much. It might have been harmless flirtation on Tenten's part but he knew exactly what was going through each of the other men's minds. All morning, as they engaged Tenten in seemingly innocent conversation, they were thinking of what lay beneath the layers of clothes; imagining what it would feel like to touch the silky skin, to pull her shining hair loose from its twin buns and run their fingers through it. He'd seen the way they surreptiously undressed her with their eyes … They may have been talking about innocuous topics, but while they pretended interest in Tenten's replies, they were really only hearing her voice in their sordid imaginations, moaning their names in pleasure as she writhed beneath them …

"What's wrong with you?"

For a moment, Neji stood paralyzed as the voice he'd just been imagining spoke up behind him without warning. He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he'd never heard or sensed her approaching. Carefully, he schooled his features into his usual mask of calm and pushed his hands deep into his pockets, just in case, because the lust was already coiling low in his abdomen. Actually being faced with the object that inspired it might just be too much for his overwrought senses.

"Nothing," he grunted without turning around, hoping against hope that she would just leave. He could almost hear the exasperated roll of her eyes.

"Neji. Talk to me. What's bothering you? You've been like a cat on hot bricks all morning."

The comparison was almost too much to bear because, truthfully, Neji felt like screaming and clawing … but it would not do for Tenten to bear witness to his suddenly uncontrollable emotions, not when the truce between them was still so fragile.

"Your fanclub will be looking for you soon," he said quietly, finally turning around to face her when he was sure he wouldn't give his inner turmoil away, "you should head back."

He resisted the urge to shift his weight uncomfortably from one leg to the other as Tenten narrowed her eyes speculatively. Forced to stand quietly, Neji could do nothing but hope that she would just take him at his word and leave. But they'd known each other most of their lives and he should have known that, where Tenten was concerned, nothing would ever be that easy.

Realization bloomed slowly in her eyes; speculation (he could almost see the way the cogs in her head whirled as she thought it through, looking for hidden meanings in his words) gave way to comprehension that swiftly melded into surprise with a fleeting flash of pleasure mingled in.

"You're jealous." The accusation fell flat, sounding more flattered than angry.

The silence was almost deafening; her words dropping between them like stones. Where the composure had come from in the face of such an accusation Neji would never know but he was grateful for his practiced calm as he simply stared at her without reacting to the statement.

For a moment Tenten merely watched him incredulously before she opened her mouth only to close it again.

"Really?" she asked finally, astonishment clear in her voice.

He should have remembered that no one was as well-versed in understanding him, in reading between the lines of what he said to get to what he actually meant, and Neji cursed himself fluently for being so transparent. But that was her fault too, really. Since Suna he hadn't been able to re-establish his equilibrium …

"I am not jealous," he stated flatly, quickly striding towards the treeline again, every instinct he possessed screaming at him to flee from the girl standing in front of him and staring at him as if he'd grown an extra head.

"You are," she nodded vehemently, looking pleased with herself, though it quickly turned into annoyance.

"What I don't get is why. I mean, it's just basic, friendly small-talk, Neji. There's no reason to be so nasty about it."

He hadn't progressed more than a few steps past her still-stationary form but Neji froze in mid-step. Disbelief at her sheer obstinate _idiocy _warred with the anger that had been swirling relentlessly in his gut all morning. It was too much; far too much to bear. For the second time in his life, Neji didn't stop to consider the consequences; didn't carefully assess each aspect of the situation and his possible choices and actions …

Before he quite knew how it had happened, he was whirling around and stalking closer. Something in his expression must have given her pause because Tenten warily backed up as he drew closer until her back was firmly against the nearest tree. Anger rarely overcame the calmness Neji cloaked himself with daily, and he hated it when it did. Usually he went out of his way to ensure that it never happened. But now he dimly acknowledged that he had totally and completely lost any and all semblance of composure.

His arms rose almost against his volition, trapping Tenten between them as he leaned closer and hissed through clenched teeth, "You're an idiot if you believe that. If you think those men were, even for a _second_, really interested in you or what you had to say then you're delusional. They weren't even listening, Tenten. All they were thinking of was getting you on your back on the nearest flat surface."

Her mouth opened, lips glistening as her tongue swept out to nervously run across her lower lip and Neji's attention was suddenly firmly fixed on her mouth. All at once, he became aware of her smaller frame crushed against his chest, the way her breasts pressed against him with every shallow breath she took. The sweet scent of her hair filled his nostrils and the way the sunlight made her skin gleam had his fingers clenching into the rough bark of the tree. The memories, barely suppressed, washed over him relentlessly and he couldn't stop the soft grunt that exploded from his chest as the wanting ran rampantly through his veins.

Never before had he wanted something as badly as he wanted her. He couldn't focus on anything but the way she looked and smelled, and the way he knew she would feel and taste if he lowered his head just a little bit … until their lips met …

He was barely aware of giving in to the incessant thrumming in his body; didn't notice anything but the way she tasted as her tongue tangled sinuously around his after a brief moment of hesitation. Her arms wound around his neck, her fingers digging into his hair and chasing shivers down his spine as she tightened her fists and pulled him closer against her. She made a tiny, mewling noise low in her throat when his hands instinctively curved around her hips, pulling her tightly against him.

It wasn't enough.

It would never be enough; he could never get _close_ enough.

One hand pulled frantically at the hem of her shirt and Neji could barely repress the sigh of relief when his fingertips ghosted across the small of her back; finally feeling the satiny texture of her bare skin again made him realize how much he'd missed it. The other hand quickly lifted her thigh, wrapping her leg around his hips as he pushed himself more fully into her. Their bodies strained against each other, mouths repeatedly meshing in passionate exchanges of lips, teeth and tongue as the world receded. There was nothing except the feel of her smooth skin and her soft lips and Neji wanted nothing more than to disappear into her …

"Oh! Um … sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt … something."

At the first sound of another voice Tenten stiffened in his arms and, though, Neji wanted nothing more than to stay immersed in her forever, ninja training ensured that at the first sound of intrusion they were both on full alert. Carefully, Neji turned his head slightly, just enough to make out the awkwardly hovering shape of a man at the very edge of his vision. The man's tone had been underscored with discomfort but the timbre of the masculine voice showed clearly that they hadn't been disturbed by Gai or Lee. Without really realizing his intent, Neji deliberately stayed exactly where he was for a moment longer. The soft sound of Tenten's laughter, quickly muffled into his shoulder, had him turning back to glare at the girl still crushed against him with haughty reproach. She met his gaze, undeterred, and with amusement dancing in her hazel eyes, and Neji found himself cursing the fact that she knew him so well for a second time that morning.

"Marking your territory, as it were, Neji?" she asked sweetly, before ducking smoothly out from underneath his arm.

For a long moment Neji stayed exactly where he was, rooted to the spot by her words. Was that what he'd been trying to do? The sounds of Tenten talking a mile a minute to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation as she escorted their unwanted visitor back to the clearing faded away as Neji tried to work through the confusion whirling in his mind. His nerve-endings still tingled from the touch of her hands on his skin, his mouth burned from the touch of her lips, and he fought valiantly to calm his heartbeat; to stop the anticipation swirling through his veins so he could concentrate.

If Tenten was right … then he _had_ been jealous instead of merely indignant at the thought of Tenten being treated like an object … and if he was jealous …

Then that must mean that he had something to be jealous _of._

Wearily, Neji shook his head, clearly lack of proper rest was beginning to affect his deductive reasoning … what he felt for Tenten was nothing more than lust.

Wasn't it?

* * *

_**a/n: Please review … even if just to tell me how badly the chapter sucked. I'm sorry! –wails- I'll try to do better ^^;;;**_


	6. One Step Forward

_**A/n: I'm apologizing again xD … stupid muse … but I hope this update makes up for it! Thank you so much to everyone who was awesome enough to review and thank you so much for your patience with me as I attempt to finish this story (which I will definitely do!).**_

_**Disclaimer: Disclaimed**_

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_**Chapter 6: One Step Forward ...**_

His hands were everywhere; touching her in ways that she now realized she didn't appreciate anyone but Neji doing. It made her skin crawl. Never before had it been an issue for Tenten – she didn't do solo missions, for the most part, and aside from her one disaster of a mission where she'd had to utilize her kunoichi training, she wasn't really in the market for seduction missions. For the first time, she realized what most kunoichi went through on a daily basis.

Her missions were completed in variations of Team Gai – with either Neji or Gai himself leading – and she'd never truly appreciated the immunity their presence gave her to the general preconceptions that existed about kunoichi.

They had all seemed like such _nice_ guys, Tenten thought somewhat in bewilderment as she stood stock-still for a moment longer; allowing the increasingly bold touches but too shocked to really react. Much as it pained her to admit, apparently Neji had been right all along.

The afternoon had worn away into evening in silence after they'd resumed their journey; Neji's black mood had seemed to cow even the most outspoken of her fanclub.

Mentally, Tenten smacked herself for allowing Neji's nickname for their _clients_ to get stuck in her head, but truthfully, at that precise moment she wasn't really inclined to think too kindly of the lot of them. Or the male species, in general.

They'd finally stopped for the night, at a rather dilapidated inn and despite their business-man client's sneer of disbelief, Gai-sensei had merely proceeded to arrange rooms for all of them, while Neji's glare had forced the rest of them into silent acceptance. Being the only female present, Tenten had been granted a room of her own; something she was grateful for as she desperately needed some time to just think about what had happened between her and Neji earlier that day; the implications of his actions and his subsequent bad mood.

Her thoughts had whirled in a never-ending circle of what-ifs and if-onlys as they'd bid their clients good night after ensuring their rooms were safe and as Gai-sensei had set up the guarding roster. She'd thought of nothing else while she'd had a quick shower and she was thankful that she had the ten o' clock to one o' clock shift so that she could maybe get some sleep despite her chaotic thoughts. By the time the inn had fallen silent, and Tenten had taken up her silent vigil in the hallway, she'd forced her thoughts out of their exhausted circle and tried to focus on the task at hand.

She'd even been thankful when Haru had slipped out of the room he shared with three others and made his way over to her. During the course of the day she'd gotten to know him perhaps just a tad better than the rest of the assistants – he'd been much more insistent on getting her to actually talk to him as well as just listening to whatever conversation he'd initiated.

It hadn't been until he'd started shifting much too close for her comfort that she'd caught on to the meaning of the gleam in his eye and before she'd had much of a chance to react and rebuff the advance he was obviously going to make, he'd had her pressed up against the wall, lips on her neck and his hands running all over her.

The shock of being so suddenly attacked, for lack of a better word, had kept her frozen until now, but it was finally beginning to lift and Tenten made only a token effort to still the rise of temper.

_He's asking for it, _she tried to assuage her conscience when it reminded her that slicing a client to ribbons was not beneficial for Konoha.

Slowly, so as not to draw his attention, her fingers slipped into the kunai-holster around her thigh and the touch of the cold metal against her fingertips had the adrenaline rushing through her with such sudden violence that Tenten started trembling with the force of it. Unfortunately, he mistook her trembling for something else and the ardent touches only increased in intensity. Tenten winced as she slowly raised the kunai, so she could press the razor sharp blade against the unprotected skin at the back of his neck. She only intended to … discourage … him from further attempts, not to actually kill him, but before she had her hand halfway up his back he was suddenly, forcibly, pushed away from her.

The gust of air had enough force that Tenten remained pinned to the wall while the recipient of the attack was blown into the wall at the opposite side of the hallway.

She knew who her would-be rescuer was before she turned her head to try and make out his shadowy form.

_Neji._

* * *

He couldn't sleep.

Again.

And this time it wasn't merely the fact that Tenten was only a few flimsy walls away, because the fact that she was so close meant that she was also only a few flimsy walls away from her fanclub.

That bothered him.

A lot.

For hours on end, Neji had tried to meditate; tried to fall asleep so that he could have at least some rest before he had to relieve Tenten for guard duty at one but it was futile. Finally, sitting cross-legged on his bed, back leaning against the wall because in an establishment of this calibre there certainly weren't luxuries like headboards, and trying to ignore the deep snores of Gai and his disciple, Neji had had no choice but to admit defeat.

He was jealous.

A fact that he could deal with … given some time. But, if things were to continue in this fashion he would surely be driven mad. So, there really only remained one logical, practical course to follow. He would have to see Tenten and try to explain this strange anomaly and see if she had any suggestions as to how they could re-establish their professional – and personal – equilibrium. He still cringed when he thought of that afternoon. Being caught very nearly _in flagrante _on a mission … he had never been more ashamed of himself.

The clock struck twelve-thirty and Neji decided that there was no point in torturing himself this way. Two pairs of eyes were always better than one so he might as well join Tenten on the last part of her shift and maybe they could manage to sort out what they were going to do – not only if she was pregnant but in general, because he would be damned if he allowed his professional composure and conduct to suffer any more than it already had.

Gai and Lee slept peacefully on as Neji quickly and quietly ensured he was fully dressed and presentable again and they didn't stir when he opened the door on decidedly creaky hinges. The hallway was wreathed in shadows but a quick sweep with the Byakugan showed him Tenten's chakra signature just around the curve of the wall but that wasn't what set his heart racing and the blood pounding furiously in his ears.

It was the figure wrapped so closely around hers.

He was barely conscious of moving; the next second he'd rounded the corner and before he'd really registered much - except the fact that Tenten had a kunai halfway to the man's jugular, which only served to support his instinctive understanding that she would _never_ have actually _wanted_ the man to press her up against a wall and … violate her - the chakra was pulsing and pushing out of his hands.

The Empty Palm technique had never had such violent force, of that Neji was sure, but he merely watched with distant satisfaction as his chakra pushed the insolent fool viciously into the opposite wall; where the man crumpled, unconscious, to the ground.

"Are you all right?" he finally asked, breaking the silence, though he didn't take his eyes off the unconscious figure across the hallway.

"Yes, thank you."

Maybe it was the stiffness of the words that alerted him to the fact that all was not well with Tenten, after all, but when Neji turned to look at his teammate he was taken aback by the look of sheer rage she directed at him.

"Are you sure?" he ventured, at last, because the stare wasn't decreasing in intensity and he was surprised he hadn't withered on the spot.

"I had it under control!" she hissed back, her voice lowered so that she whisper-shouted but it did nothing to detract from her obvious anger.

"Really?" Neji arched an expressive eyebrow at the irate girl glaring up at him, "Then why did you wait so long to incapacitate him?"

"I-I was still coming to terms with the shock of being so suddenly … pounced on!"

At a loss for what to say or do, Neji merely stared at Tenten. Newly discovered instincts were prompting him to hold her close and never let another person near her again, but one glance at Tenten's furious face convinced him that it would be extremely unwise to embark on such a course of action.

"Argh!" Tenten threw her hands into the air, "You just don't _get_ it, do you?"

He'd barely opened his mouth to ask what it was that he was apparently not _getting_, but Tenten forestalled the somewhat confused question by turning sharply on her heel as she stuffed the kunai back into its holster.

"Where are you going?"

"To bed! That is, if you think I can make it five feet down the hallway without anyone holding my hand!"

To Neji's eternal confusion the last words were accompanied by the click of her door closing behind her though he strongly suspected that if it hadn't been the middle of the night she would've taken far more pleasure out of slamming it.

* * *

Her dreams were full of anger. Restless and disturbed Tenten tossed for hours - all too aware of Neji's chakra pulsing soothingly just outside her door. She'd finally succumbed to a restive sort of slumber only to wake slightly as her door opened quietly.

"What do you want?" she mumbled sulkily at Neji, aware that she was being unnecessarily churlish when he'd only been trying to help but unable to stop the resentment from flaring; after all this time, he apparently still didn't think she was worth much as a kunoichi.

Surprise held her still and silent when Neji sat down next to her watched her with a carefully guarded gaze.

"I apologize," he muttered, stiffly, at last and Tenten's eyebrows nearly touched her hairline.

"I did not mean to imply that you are incapable of dealing with such a situation yourself."

Long hours contemplating what had taken place had finally led Neji to believe that she was feeling affronted by what she saw as his disregard for her ability to take care of herself so he'd resolved to apologize the moment Gai relieved him.

They decidedly did not need another point of contention between them.

So he gritted his teeth and waited for Tenten to reply once he'd managed to force the words out; he was not accustomed to apologizing to anyone for anything but this was twice now, in one week, that Tenten had managed to drag the hated words out of him.

Finally, she sighed and Neji couldn't help but relax.

"Fine," she muttered grumpily, "Don't do it again."

To his alarm she reached out and grabbed one of his hands in a tight grip, pulling him down until he was lying on the narrow bed beside her.

"We can still sleep for a while, right?" Tenten murmured sleepily, drawing his arm around her as she turned slightly onto her side and cuddled closer against him.

For a long time, Neji remained rigidly in position before he relaxed with a slight sigh, pulling her against his chest. He could feel her lips curving into a smile against his collarbone and he closed his eyes; wondering at the fact that sleep suddenly seemed such an attainable goal now that Tenten was firmly curled into his side. The edges of his vision were blacking out and he allowed himself to sink fully into a comfortable position though there had been more he wanted to say to her.

"I won't mind," Neji mumbled sleepily, out of the blue and Tenten frowned slightly, not moving from her comfortable position. Neji's shoulder was a lot more appealing than the rock hard pillow the inn provided …

"What?" she forced the words out, suppressing shivers as her lips brushed against his throat.

"If you're pregnant."

Under normal circumstances the words would have sent her into a spiral of frantic thinking; wondering if he meant what she thought he meant or if he was saying something completely different. But now, her body curved around Neji's; her face buried in the spot where his neck curved into his shoulder, her leg hooked around his hip and her hand resting over his heart and enveloped in the scent of early morning and Neji – she couldn't bring herself to worry about anything.

Instead, Tenten reacted instinctively, and smiled into his skin before she buried her nose in his hair and allowed sleep to claim her.

* * *

_**a/n: Another small step in the right direction, yeah ^^ Please review and let me know what you thought!**_


	7. Two Steps Back

_**A/n: I'm sorry! Forgive me! But here the chapter is - in all it's flawed glory and for your (dubitible) enjoyment ^^ Thanks for all the reviews/alerts/favs and the continued support! It means a lot to me.**_

_**Disclaimer: Disclaimed**_

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_**Chapter 7: Two Steps Back**_

Neji leaned morosely against a tree at the very edges of the Hyuuga compound. The bark was rough against his back, digging into his skin, but he barely noticed. Nor did he pay any attention to the laughter and teasing that was bouncing back and forth between Naruto and Kiba. How on earth had Kiba talked him into this? Vaguely he recalled _finally _arriving back in Konoha after that disastrous mission, only to run into Kiba who was just leaving the compound as he was entering. The Inuzuka had promptly dragged him away, barely allowing enough time for Neji to leave his pack behind, promising a surprise. He grimaced bitterly as he took another swig from the sake cup dangling from his fingers. How far had he fallen? How had it come to this? From being the youngest Jounin and pride of the Hyuuga clan he was suddenly not only promiscuous and sex-starved but apparently becoming a drunk, too. He still cringed when he thought of the raised eyebrows when the entire mission party had seen him leaving Tenten's room the morning after their fight.

Maybe that was why he'd decided to give in to Kiba's exhortations to 'just try one sip'. Maybe he'd thought that the alcohol would be enough to drown out the abject humiliation of being reprimanded for his treatment of the aide. In front of their clients. Hair and clothes still dishevelled. Freshly from Tenten's bed...

The groan was just barely suppressed before it could burst from his lips. One long-fingered hand ran through his hair; tangling the chocolate length into knots.

He knew Gai had had no choice but to publicly declare his disapproval of the way Neji had handled the situation; not after the aide had run to his boss and complained. Neji also knew that Gai hadn't really minded – knowing his erstwhile sensei as he did, it had been apparent in the older man's tone of voice as well as his word choices, but the 'dressing down' had served to mollify the client.

An inelegant snort drew the other two's curious gazes but Neji ignored the looks and they quickly lost interest and returned to their tipsy antics.

Of course, the coward – Neji still had no idea what the young man's name was – hadn't let on that he'd deserved every second of being knocked out; that he'd more than earned every bruise he'd sustained, and Neji hadn't said anything, either. What purpose would that serve, except to humiliate Tenten along with him? Though Gai had clearly known more than he'd let on since the lecture had been so mild; more a tirade about proper application of youthfulness than anything else.

Still, he was a Hyuuga Jounin not a genin child and the words had stung.

With a shake of his head, Neji forced himself back to the present and tried to find some distraction in the form of the two semi-drunk idiots in front of him. Truth be told, maybe it wasn't all that bad – the sake. He was on his second cup and he could feel the relaxation stealing over him; tight muscles relaxing while the world became coated in a rosy glow.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. The way she'd smiled after he'd told her that maybe he wouldn't mind if they were, in fact, to become parents earlier than either of them had planned.

What did it mean?

Should he have asked her?

Another sip of sake. Then another.

In surprise, Neji stared at the empty cup grasped tightly in his slightly sweaty palm.

Yes, yes, he should have asked.

Not in the slightest unsteady on his feet (just feeling an inordinate amount of good-will towards the world in general) Neji placed the cup next to the flask Kiba had brought and pushed himself up with the help of the tree he'd been leaning against.

"Oi, where are you going, Hyuuga?" Kiba slurred, leaning back to look up at Neji and promptly losing his balance and falling back onto the grass.

Neji suppressed the urge to laugh, settling for a smirk instead, "How many cups have you had, Inuzuka?" He tried to bring disdain to the words, he really did, but only managed to sound vaguely amused.

Before Kiba could answer and since Naruto was still entirely occupied in laughing his ass off while he tried to help the other boy up (only managing to land in a pile on top of the giggling Inuzuka), Neji muttered a careless goodbye. Their voices called after him, interspersed with the sounds of a scuffle that had broken out spontaneously. Neji sped up; quickly disappearing from view before they could waylay him.

He should have asked Tenten what her feelings on the matter were. He was tired of not knowing … wondering and waiting for the inevitable explosion from her. Suddenly he couldn't help but wonder, in amazement, why on earth he'd never thought of simply asking her before.

* * *

It was good to be home.

Truthfully, Tenten had been very grateful when their escort mission had come to an end. Thankfully nothing had been said about the encounter with Haru, and he'd firmly avoided her after Neji had sent him flying. The problem was that Neji, on top of an obviously disgruntled client, was a bit more than Tenten wanted to cope with. Always, at the back of her mind, was the lingering worry : what _would_ she do if she was pregnant? Not for a moment did she doubt that Neji was as good as his word. There was no way he would let her struggle with such a monumental life change on her own but …

She'd have to give up being a kunoichi. And Tenten was decidedly _not _ready to do that. She hadn't accomplished half of what she meant to.

With a sigh Tenten took a last glance around her spotless, if tiny, kitchen. Keeping busy only managed to distract up to a point … Only another week before they knew if they had anything to worry about. No use in crying over spilt milk. Even less sense in jumping the gun...

The knock at her door startled her but the intrusion wasn't entirely unwelcome. Tenten frowned as she slowly turned to answer it. It was late and she'd already gone to see her mother before coming home. Who would be calling at this time of night? Her heart started to pound, banging against her ribs in a frantic rhythm, as she recalled the last night-time visitor she'd received.

* * *

The worst of the sake had worn off by the time Neji drew to a halt in front of Tenten's door. Not enough for him to claim that he was completely sober but enough to start second-guessing his spur-of-the-moment decision to talk to Tenten. He frowned as he contemplated the slab of dark-brown wood that was her front-door. Why was it that when it came to Tenten all reactions and decisions were suddenly spur-of-the-moment? Was that a bad thing?

Finally, Neji sighed and raised his hand; rapping his knuckles firmly on the wood a couple of times. He'd come this far… and maybe the alcohol would have enough of an effect on his usual reticence that he could actually manage to convey what he was feeling and thinking. A moment later the door swung open to reveal Tenten bathed in a golden glow from the lamps behind her. The light gilded her hair reddish-gold as it hung in loose waves down her back.

_Like sunset_, Neji couldn't help but think as he drew in a sharp breath.

For a moment longer he stood unmoving, frozen into perfect stillness, as they stared at each other and suddenly he wasn't thinking at all anymore.

Two swift strides – Tenten backing up as he advanced – and he kicked the door shut behind him. He reached out and dragged her towards him in almost the same movement. It had been days since he'd held her like this – flush against him; her wide eyes seemingly searching his features for answers he didn't even know the questions to. Her lashes fluttered closed, kissing her soft cheeks, when his eyes dropped to her mouth and Neji knew that he was lost. The alcohol – the supposed burning questions he had to ask – it was all an excuse.

Her mouth was somehow softer than he remembered it being. Had she always felt this good? Her lips parted when he swiped his tongue firmly across the seam of her mouth. Neji allowed his hands to wander down the contours of her body; gripping hungry handfuls of flesh. At last it felt as if he could breathe again and Neji gave himself over to the feeling with abandon.

The world blurred and faded into pure sensation; the feel of her, the taste, made his head spin and his heart pound. Now, he knew what it was that his body craved and his hands slid quickly down her sides, lifting her and pressing her firmly back against the door as he slanted his mouth over hers to deepen the kiss. But more than that, and something he could only admit with enough sake running through his veins, was the fact that he craved her _closeness_. Almost as if he needed confirmation that all the confusing feelings that was suddenly boiling inside him, and worsening by the day, were returned. Did she ache to be close to him – as close as it was possible to get – the same way he did?

Neji was so lost in her, and the emotions she inspired, that he barely noticed the way Tenten pushed lightly against his shoulders; the way she turned her face away. He only noticed the arching expanse of her neck and immediately let his lips fall to the silky skin; biting and sucking his way along the pale column of flesh.

* * *

He tasted of sake. Smelled like fresh air and forest … he _felt_ like Neji. But all Tenten could really register was the vague panic. Barely leashed aggression thrummed through his muscles as they pulled taut under her touch and she swallowed hard as she tried to push him away. Despite the way all her senses were focused on the (already somehow too familiar) smell and taste of him all Tenten could really feel was the rough hands of the mission target. The way the man had simply taken what he wanted with no thought or consideration for her.

The first time with Neji … she'd been wholly in control; directing every movement. But the way Neji touched her now was different … he was no longer unsure and untutored and it showed. His natural dominance was asserting itself in the most primal of ways and she couldn't quite keep the memories of losing her virginity from leaking into – and staining – reality.

"No. Neji. Stop!"

Finally, Tenten gave in to the feeling of being trapped; pushed hard against his shoulders even as she half-shouted the words at him, only to stumble slightly when he released her as if he'd been burned. Her fingers dug into the wood behind her as she fought for composure; tried to still the shivers that wracked her frame and, only once she was sure she was back in control, did Tenten dare to raise her eyes to Neji's.

He looked confused … slightly hurt, and more than a little wary as he carefully massaged the spot on his shoulder where her fist had connected moments before.

For a while, Tenten stared blankly up at the blinking Hyuuga.

"You stopped." She didn't quite know why she sounded so breathless and surprised …

Irritation flashed briefly across his features before his expression smoothed into careful blankness. "Of course. What did you expect? When a woman says stop, you stop."

Suddenly feeling incredibly young and stupid, Tenten allowed her back to slide down the door until she was sitting on the floor, and buried her face in her knees.

"Neji. I-I'm so sorry … I didn't mean-″

_How could I have been so stupid? Of course he's not the same as that man … how could I allow those feelings the upper hand? _Tenten inwardly berated herself, completely unable to look at Neji any longer. She knew better than this; had learned to get past all that had happened on that mission … the only explanation she could even begin to fathom was that Neji had caught her off guard – and because she'd been unprepared she'd reacted instinctively.

But how on earth could she explain that to Neji? He didn't know … she'd never _wanted _anyone to know.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a warm palm landed carefully on her crossed arms; she'd wrapped them firmly around her drawn-up knees. Slowly, moving carefully as if he was afraid of spooking her, Neji lowered himself to the ground next to her, angling his body so that he leaned against the wall beside her.

"What's the matter, Tenten?" he asked softly.

The underlying concern in his voice was her undoing; for so long she'd carried this shameful secret with her that the weight of it was beginning to drag her under. From far away she remembered the counsellor's advice: that she would never be able to let it go if she kept it all bottled up inside. The fear was there though; that he'd see her differently and pity her or worse, blame her for the stupidity that had gotten her into such a situation to begin with …

But it was Neji. The person she trusted above all others. If she couldn't tell him … who would she ever be able to tell?

Before … it might not have mattered so much but now … now she couldn't help but feel that maybe she _owed _him this last piece of trust. That he'd earned it – deserved it.

So, haltingly and with many stops and starts, Tenten allowed the story to spill from her lips. All the while carefully looking anywhere but at the silent figure next to her.

* * *

Neji didn't know what to say; how to react.

Somehow he didn't think that allowing the anger – at Tsunade-sama for saddling Tenten with a mission she hadn't been prepared for, at Lee for being the inadvertent catalyst to the entire situation, at himself for having been so focused on his own career that she'd had to handle such a mission on her own - would give Tenten what she needed. He wasn't stupid. Throughout the rambling tale her fingers had pushed and pulled at each other in a way so reminiscent of Hinata that it had become clear she was very fearful of his reaction.

She was ashamed when she had no reason to be.

The job had been done; she'd thought the way only an exceptional ninja could … getting herself and her teammate out of a sticky spot without compromising the mission. Abruptly, sadness flowed through his body; she'd been so young to have shouldered that much responsibility. Team Gai usually worked as a team and though Tenten and Lee had often collaborated on missions where a Jounin wasn't strictly required Neji or Gai had generally accompanied them regardless. Now, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe they'd done their teammates a disservice … had always been so ready to protect and defend that Tenten and Lee had developed at a slower rate than their peers. And yet, the one time she'd truly needed them … they'd been conspicuous in their absence. Instinctively, he recognized that Tenten wouldn't appreciate that sentiment, either. She would see it as pity … and that would also be detrimental to her mental state.

Carefully Neji reached out and placed his hand over hers; allowing her fingers to curl tightly into his as she held on for dear life.

He swallowed.

"You did the right thing, Tenten," he said at last, softly, "and you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Honey eyes, colored darker by disbelief and suppressed tears, stared sceptically back at him but her body relaxed for the first time. Slowly the tension left her limbs, and she sagged against him, curling into his side with a low sob.

"I – I just feel like … such a failure," she whispered into his neck as her arms wound around him and she clung tightly.

He hated her tears; hated that he didn't know how to make it better for her or even how to react in the face of so much misery pouring out of the one person he cared about most in the world. In the panic of having her crying in his arms, in conjunction with the lowered inhibitions courtesy of the sake, the last of Neji's defences crumbled and he finally gave in completely to all the emotion that had been boiling beneath his skin since Suna.

"You are not a failure," he stated firmly, cupping her cheeks with his palms and forcing her to look at him, "and I could never think less of you. How could you even contemplate that? I feel nothing but admiration for the way you handled the situation – no one could have done better."

She blinked, droplets of moisture still clinging to her eyelashes; sparkling in the overhead lights.

"You – you don't?" she asked, uncertainly.

Neji didn't mean to say it – it was hardly the appropriate place for such a declaration but somehow he opened his mouth and the words flew out of their own volition.

"I love you. Nothing you do or say could ever change that."

* * *

_**a/n: Thank you so much for bearing with me! I hope you enjoyed the chapter … bleh, but I won't blame you if you didn't xD …hopefully, next update will be quicker in coming – I'll try my best ^^ Please review and let me know what you thought?**_


	8. Fall-out

_**a/n: Thank you so much for all the lovely support! Have I mentioned how much I adore every single one of you? And it's because of your unfailing support and wonderful reviews that I got so excited I simply had to update again!**_

_**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Please let me know what you thought?**_

_**Warnings: Maybe a (very tiny) splash of smexiness**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Chapter 8: Fall-out**_

The silence was absolutely deafening and, for a moment, Neji couldn't really place _what _exactly had caused so many different emotions to flash across Tenten's features. Abruptly the silence blanketing them lifted; and, as if this was one of his worst nightmares come to life, Neji could hear his voice – his _words_ – echoing through it. Blood roared in his ears, he could feel it rushing through his veins and up his neck to stain his cheeks with embarrassed color. They'd frozen into place – a more than slightly uncomfortable position, with both of them angled towards and yet away from each other. Tenten opened her mouth only to close it again; confusion in her eyes, but Neji yanked his hands away from her as if he'd been burnt.

How could he have been so stupid? How could he just have blurted out something as life-altering as that? But no amount of cursing at his sake-laden brain and tongue would ever be able to recall the words so Neji simply stood. Better to let her think that it was merely drunken words.

"I-I don't feel well," he mumbled stiffly and quickly forged ahead, "must have been the sake."

Before she had a chance to say something – because he could see the way her jaw firmed and her shoulders squared and he _knew_ that could only mean Tenten was not about to let him off easily – Neji formed the requisite hand seals and vanished in a puff of smoke. He reappeared just outside the Hyuuga compound walls and briskly set off inside; hoping that the late hour would mean he wouldn't have to speak to anyone else tonight.

He'd never contemplated saying something so revealing to another person. Hadn't thought it would make him feel so … naked. A part of him guiltily reflected that he probably shouldn't have run out on Tenten like that – completely contradicting everything he'd said to her – but he couldn't have stayed.

Finally, his shoji door came into view and Neji slipped silently inside with a bitter twist to his lips. Maybe it made him a coward, and a terrible friend, and every other horrible epithet he could devise but there was only so much a man could take.

And he didn't think he would have been able to take Tenten's rejection.

No matter the explosive chemistry between them she'd never once indicated that she felt anything more for him than friendship. Never had she showed that the suddenly sexual side to their relationship was anything more than a bit of fun – two people experimenting with someone they could trust.

As he pulled his clothes from his body and collapsed onto the dark bedcoverings, Neji couldn't help the groan that escaped though he quickly muffled it into his pillow. He'd never even realized he was contemplating deeper feelings for Tenten. Somehow it hadn't occurred to him that the unsettled snaking in his gut was directly related emotions of the heart. What on earth had possessed him to come out and just _say _it like that? He rolled over onto his back and slung one forearm over his eyes; cursing the rapidly expanding, sake-induced headache.

Whatever was between him and Tenten had never been meant to last.

She was a smart girl – smarter than to get involved with him. What could he offer her? There was nothing he could ever do that would actually enable him to deserve someone like her. No matter that she'd developed an interest in his body – Neji knew he was good-looking so maybe it wasn't that surprising considering their daily proximity – but something _more_ than that?

He'd never been that lucky.

* * *

Team Gai had a training session scheduled for the next morning.

The night had been long and sleepless but through the course of his tossing and turning Neji had decided that he had no other choice than to brazen it out. After flinging his declaration so casually, so naturally – as if he'd been _meant_ to say those words to her – out into the open and promptly running off, he couldn't avoid her today. He'd been a coward the night before but he refused to succumb to cowardly impulses any further.

He was the first one to arrive at their usual training field. The sun was just barely beginning its ascent but Neji was glad for the peace of the morning. Maybe he could get a few minutes of meditation in, to calm him before Tenten arrived. Konoha was just beginning to stir; birds chirping in the trees and the day still new enough that the slightly cooler temperatures of the night lingered. He stopped beneath a gnarled oak tree and took a deep breath before sinking down into the lotus position. Just the thought of facing Tenten after the night before was stomach-churning and completely destroyed the calm he was trying to cultivate. Only sheer force of will held the anxious feelings and the blush at bay. The minutes passed quickly and Neji opened his eyes when he finally heard the sound of footsteps approaching. For once the fates ruled in his favor and Neji barely managed to keep the sigh of relief bottled up when he saw that Lee was the new arrival.

By the time Tenten arrived Neji had already been thoroughly irritated with talks about 'youthfulness' and regaled with tales of the most moronic 'training exercises' he'd ever heard of – not to mention the gushing recital of Gai-sensei's most recent 'victory' over Kakashi he'd been forced to endure. After that it was easy enough to simply grab hold of the irritation and channel it towards Tenten. Gai had arrived just slightly after Tenten and Neji barely allowed Gai the time to proclaim that they should all work hard at being youthful before he stalked towards the side of the field he and Tenten usually claimed. Thankfully, she seemed to sense his mood – seemed to be inclined to let him try to work through it with exercise, and she kept her mouth shut as they began to spar.

If only she would stop raking him over with such a calculating gaze.

* * *

It was never easy to declare yourself. That much Tenten knew from bitter experience. After all the years of knowing Neji, after so much time spent on trying to _stop_ herself from falling for him… when she'd finally admitted the truth of her utter failure in that regard to herself a few years ago, she hadn't had the courage to tell him. She _still _didn't have that kind of courage. So she could appreciate the fact that he felt ill at ease in facing her this morning.

Unfortunately, she also couldn't quite keep the simmering resentment that he hadn't given her the time to so much as squeak in surprise hidden either. She'd arrived just slightly after Lee, cursing the extra minutes she'd spent staring into the mirror and trying to see what Neji saw, when she realized that her plan of cornering him before practice started had failed. The guarded look Neji had thrown her way – irritation with Lee poorly concealed beneath it – had only served to convince her that maybe trying to talk to Neji about emotions after a dose of Lee wasn't the best plan. He'd immediately stalked to their usual spot and moved into position and Tenten had complied without compunction. She'd thought that maybe, after getting rid of some of the frustration, he'd be easier to talk to.

That had been hours ago.

Gai and Lee were currently at the far side of the field; attempting to walk on their hands while balanced on the blade of a kunai and Tenten was nearly out of weapons. She frowned as she glanced quickly down at the scrolls she'd brought. Not anticipating a fully-fledged war, she'd only grabbed two of the ones with smaller storage capacity since she'd been late to begin with. However, Neji seemed hell-bent on exhausting every single weapon she owned rather than talking to her and she sighed as she unfurled the scroll to call upon the last of her weapons.

"Last round. I'm all out," she called at Neji as she gathered her chakra.

He didn't bother to respond, unless she could count the narrowing of his eyes.

Her patience was beginning to wear a bit thin, to be honest, and Tenten glared back. What on earth was wrong with him? Yes, granted, he was probably feeling a bit exposed and embarrassed but if he'd just give her a chance …

The chakra-laden kick seemed to come out of nowhere. Neji's knee connected with her mid-riff and Tenten gasped as the breath was forced out of her lungs. Still desperately trying to draw oxygen into her aching lungs, Tenten dropped to a crouch and swept her foot under his but Neji was too quick and he jumped back to evade her. With narrowed eyes Tenten stared at Neji who was coolly waiting for her to counter-attack.

_If that's the way you want it, Hyuuga, _she thought spitefully and quickly sent her chakra through the wires attached to the kunai.

* * *

For someone who claimed to be out of weapons Tenten certainly wasn't short of kunai. Neji wildly wondered where she'd gotten the spares from because he knew her and he knew that she didn't lie. Wave after wave after wave of kunai shot at him with such blinding speed that he barely had enough time to swirl from one revolution of Kaiten to the next. But Byakugan eyes weren't revered for nothing and he strained his vision almost to its limits to try and see through the cage of chakra surrounding his body.

Finally, he could make out the glint of chakra-laced ninja-wire connecting Tenten to her kunai. Five kunai, alternated with five shuriken, were attached to each string, leading back to each of her ten fingers. He growled under his breath as the motion of his Kaiten began to slow.

That's how she was doing it.

Always aiming for his blind-spot; alternating hands. She sent enough weapons at him to require an absolute defence with one hand and, as she drew that hand back, sent the other flying. It barely required her to move.

Neji didn't quite know how he felt about it. Usually, Tenten was much too honourable to aim for his blind-spot unless he specifically requested that they work on it. But today she seemed focused only on exhausting him. Much as he hated to admit it, her plan was working.

His vision wavered, his eye technique faltering under the strain of keeping so much chakra focused in his ocular nerves. Chakra levels were nearly depleted too, if the heavy, dragging feeling in his limbs was any indication. Contrary to popular belief, Neji was not unbeatable – it didn't require someone of Naruto's ingenuity and vast chakra resources to overwhelm him. But, as with most Hyuuga techniques, his limits were a closely guarded secret. Tenten was perhaps the only one who knew him so well, understood his techniques and the drain they placed on his chakra so deeply, that she could beat him this way. Mostly he was too fast for her. He had to be, to get out of the trajectory of a speeding kunai, but it seemed as if she'd found a way to work even around that and he was caught between cursing her and admiring her. Usually Tenten lost, simply because she couldn't keep him at bay. He inevitably got under her guard, used the distance she needed from him against her, and swept in to overwhelm her with a few well-placed hand-strikes.

Not today, it seemed.

Neji closed his eyes, locking his knees against the shaking in his legs, because he was damned if he'd let her see just how deeply her victory extended, and raised a hand to indicate a cease-fire. When he remained standing silently after Tenten lowered her arms, she finally dropped the chakra-strings and stomped over to him. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head away; suddenly aware of the way his neck was burning.

"I take it you yield," Tenten finally offered dryly.

* * *

It could not possibly get any worse than this, Neji reflected darkly as he and Tenten made their way down the street. His arm was drawn over her shoulders, and hers were wound around his waist, and the proximity, and the touching, had absolutely nothing to do with the tension between them. Instead it had everything to do with the fact that his legs refused to support him after her barrage of weapons. What had he ever done to deserve this? It was pure insanity. Still, as if the sake had finally broken down all of the barriers inside of him, he could really see clearly. Could finally make sense of everything she made him feel.

She was still trying to keep from laughing, from the corner of his eye he could just see the way Tenten's lips twitched in amusement. And it wasn't fair that he was humiliated and heartbroken (because, seriously, where had his much vaunted genius gone that he could actually contemplate even for a _minute_ that _Tenten_ would want _him_ with any kind of permanency) and she was just so beautiful. Even with sweaty bangs stuck to her forehead and a flush of exertion on her cheeks.

Neji couldn't have kept from wondering if he tried – what would it feel like to have the freedom to tell her that? Why was it so hard to just open his mouth and tell her that he thought she was the prettiest thing he'd ever laid eyes on? He couldn't take his eyes off her, though he tried to keep it subtle; flicking glances from the corner of his eye.

She glanced up at just the wrong moment though and for a minute they both froze, right there in the middle of the street. A blush accentuated the color already on her cheeks and Neji bit his lip when she opened her mouth. Was this it? Was he going to be let down easy (though it could never be easy no matter how she tried to sugar-coat it) in the middle of a Konoha street with the evening traffic swirling around them sluggishly? How ignominious. How very, very fitting. Because she deserved the best – especially after the secrets he'd learned the night before – and since she was the best, _he_ could never deserve _her_. So why would he need a grand moment in which that realization finally became reality?

Abruptly, Neji moved forward again, Tenten stretching her stride to its limits to keep up and keep him supported. He frowned as he stared at the sidewalk. It was absolutely true. He wanted nothing more than he wanted Tenten to smile. She deserved nothing less – shouldn't have to ever live another moment in which she was scared or alone. He felt as if he'd just been sucker punched right in the gut. Neji was many things – he admitted that freely – but above all he was self-centred. Oh, he tried to remember the learned social behaviours, and succeeded for the most part but inherently – when he reacted instinctively – he was always self-centred.

It was strangely liberating, and at the same time completely confusing, to realize that he really wouldn't mind if Tenten could be happy. Even if it was at his expense. Which was not saying that it wouldn't hurt, and that he wouldn't try to avoid it as long as he could …

The giggle was loud. Almost obscenely so. Seeming to screech right through the noise of the afternoon just as Neji and Tenten made their way past a group of genin girls. One of them was bright red and had her hand clapped over her mouth, while the others looked off into different directions as if nothing at all had happened.

He could feel his neck burning.

Damnit. Again. More like _every time_.

Suddenly Neji remembered why he'd taken to avoiding the main thoroughfares in the village. He still couldn't understand it but the passage of time and the increasing instances of giggling girls had meant that he couldn't deny it anymore. For whatever reason he was the center of attention these days – and he didn't like it. The scowl that framed his features must have been enough to scare them away because, when next Neji looked up, they'd passed the girls who were suddenly gone, and Tenten was shooting confused looks between him and the spot where they had been.

"What's wrong?" she finally asked, cautiously.

"You tell me," Neji sighed, suddenly weary beyond belief, "we came back from Suna and suddenly this started happening."

The look of confusion only deepened, "What? You mean the girls giggling?"

Neji nodded his assent and tried to pick up the pace but Tenten lingered, pulling him to a stop with her. The sound of tinkling laughter breaking through the late afternoon startled him and the scowl melted away as he eyed her curiously.

"What could possibly be funny?"

"Neji. There has _always _been giggling girls. You've just never noticed them before. I've never seen you scowl like that!"

Another pealing bell-like laugh, "Are you _blushing, _Hyuuga?"

* * *

For whatever reason Tenten seemed to find it hilarious that he'd never noticed the girls before but Neji found he didn't mind too much. The sudden, unexpected levity had firmly broken through the ice between them and, as long as they didn't really look each other in the eye, he could almost pretend that everything was normal.

No Suna.

No declarations.

Just Neji and Tenten. The way they'd always been.

It was strangely comforting and hope began to swell inside him. Would it be possible to simply go back to that? Because he didn't think he'd be able to bear losing Tenten completely …

They'd finally made it to Tenten's apartment – it was closer than the Hyuuga compound – and Tenten had _finally_ allowed him to collapse onto her couch after she'd made him drink for the inevitable dehydration. It was strange, Neji mused, how relaxed he felt here. He was half-sitting, half-lying on her couch; head tilted back against the pillows and eyes roaming around the space. It was sparsely furnished but what she did have was of good quality and comfortable. Creams and browns dominated the space, somehow simultaneously light and deep – a perfect foil for the owner.

The couch cushions dipped slightly below her weight as Tenten sat down next to him but Neji didn't move. He was too comfortable. Even when she took his hand and laced her fingers through his, he couldn't manage to summon the energy to care that it was finally upon him: the rejection he'd been running away from since the day before. So, Neji merely sighed resignedly, and turned his head slightly to peer tiredly at his teammate.

She perched next to him, one leg folded beneath the other, and such a wealth of emotion swirling in her eyes that he couldn't even begin to try to make sense of it. She opened her mouth, pink lips glistening and a flush on her cheeks, and suddenly he was sorry he hadn't had the chance to kiss her one last time …

"I love you, too, Neji."

* * *

She felt so impossibly good. Warm and soft.

Tenten felt like _home_.

No further talking had been done the night before, after Tenten's admission. At first Neji had been too shocked to move; too disbelieving, sure that he must have fallen asleep and this was his subconscious way of torturing himself even further. But the moment, the silence, had dragged on until Tenten had begun to look slightly desperate and his heart had been pounding so fast he was sure it was about to burst out of his chest. The uncomfortable physical sensation of feeling the sky falling on his head had finally brought it home that he wasn't dreaming and so Neji had done the only thing that had made any sense.

He kissed her.

For the first time it was a kiss that contained not only lust but all the pent-up emotions. He was terrible when it came to talking about emotions, he knew that, so he proceeded to show her exactly what feelings her words had roused in him. And, later that night, when he moved within her (still marvelling at how incredibly, amazingly good she felt beneath him, around him) he could've sworn the earth moved, too.

* * *

Tenten couldn't keep the smirk off her features or the song from her lips as she danced around her tiny kitchen the next morning. True, nothing had really been resolved. They were not further to officially naming this thing between them, but she loved him and he loved her and, for now, she felt that it was good enough. Quickly gathering the necessary ingredients for breakfast, Tenten couldn't help but blush when her fast pace reminded her of the ache between her legs. Her body was full of delicious aches and pains, actually …

"Morning, darling!"

Tenten froze, nearly dropping the plate she was holding from nerveless fingers, at the sound of her mother's voice and her mother's spare key in the lock. All her previous happiness, all the dirty fantasising she'd been indulging in, disappeared as roiling fear washed over her. What would her mother say if she actually _caught _Neji here? Her apartment was tiny – he had nowhere to hide; the water running from the shower he was currently engaged in was already enough of a giveaway.

Before she could think of some way to warn him, or some way to get rid of her mother, Amaya rounded the corner, a bag of groceries in her arms and a smile on her lips. The smile froze when she caught sight of her daughter and Tenten couldn't keep the wince suppressed as her mother's sharp eyes scanned the room.

"Expecting company for breakfast, dear?" the elder woman asked, gaze fixed on the fact that there were two place-settings at the small breakfast nook.

Amaya cocked her head as Tenten remained silent and narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

"Or should I rather be asking if the company expects breakfast?"

"I-I … it's …" Tenten trailed off, not really sure what she'd been planning to say to make the situation any less damning but praying that Neji would take the longest shower of his life.

Her mother placed the bag of groceries very deliberately onto the small countertop next to the stove and, hands on her hips, surveyed her daughter from head to toe with a critical eye. Tenten closed her eyes and thanked her luckily stars she'd actually pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt before coming to the kitchen.

"You know, Tenten, I've been more than understanding of your ridiculous obsession with ninja games. You are your father's daughter and I couldn't begrudge either of you your choice of career. But you are still very young, irrespective of what the ninja world regards as adult, and I must say that I honestly thought you had better judgement than this."

Tenten flushed bright red, she could feel the heat creeping up her neck and into her cheeks but before she could begin to defend herself, Amaya continued.

"I allowed this apartment at your age, though you are a girl alone, because the Hokage convinced me that it would only benefit you in the long run in terms of your career," the older woman's dark hair swished across her shoulders as she turned and walked into Tenten's living room, "But if this is what you do with the freedom then maybe it's time you and I had a little talk."

To Tenten's horror, instead of making for the front door, her mother moved to the couch; apparently intent on having _the_ _talk_ right at that moment.

Briefly Tenten closed her eyes in fear, knowing what her mother would find … after all she could still clearly recall the way Neji had groaned her name, one hand wrapped tightly in her hair, the other caressing down her body, when she'd dragged his clothes off him on her couch …

With leaden feet, she followed after her mother, thankful that she could still hear the shower running in the background. Amaya stood in front of the couch, staring at the articles of clothing strewn around … unmistakably the attire of traditional male Hyuugas. And Tenten only knew one male Hyuuga who dressed like that.

"He's simply a friend?" Amaya asked finally, turning to face her daughter who hovered in the doorway.

Tenten took a deep breath, her heart pounding. She'd never stood up to her mother before but maybe it was overdue …

"At the time I said that, he was," she answered neutrally, "and I know what you think, Mother. But it's really not like that."

"Oh, really," Amaya returned sarcastically, "So he's _not _really the boy prodigy of the Hyuuga. He's _not _really a branch member of that family. A family, need I remind you, that is notorious for its control over its members! How much more so will they be with _that boy_, Tenten? Do you honestly think he will have any say over who he marries someday? Do you really think that it would be beneficial for you to tie yourself to his second-rate status for all your life, if they miraculously do?" Amaya threw her hands into the air with a sound of disgust.

Pearly teeth bit into her lower lip as Tenten fought against the familiar anger tightening inside her. "If you would just listen, just _bother_ to get to _know_ him, even a little – you'd know that he's a good person, Mother. Someone to depend on. He's done nothing but strive beyond what anyone ever expected from him as a branch member and I know he'll continue to do that!"

Tenten took a deep breath and fixed her mother with a pleading gaze, "_Please_, mama, just give him a _chance_. That's all I ask."

In the sudden silence Tenten was completely aware of her harsh breathing and the sound of silence from the direction of the bathroom. She winced involuntarily.

"I think your judgement is clouded, Tenten, to even consider that boy – a second-string _Hyuuga_ of all things! – a suitable prospect. But we will discuss this later – after you've gotten rid of your visitor."

The warning look on Amaya's face told Tenten very eloquently that her mother had no intention of being swayed on this particular topic. With wooden movements Tenten walked her mother to the door and bid her goodbye. Only after she was sure her mother's footsteps had faded into the distance did she finally speak, never looking away from the front door.

"How much did you hear?"

"Not a lot."

Neji's breath brushed against the back of her neck as he drew her against his chest and pressed a kiss against the exposed skin.

"I'm sorry, Neji," Tenten sighed as she turned in his arms and wound hers around his neck. "She's totally misguided but given time she'll come around. Deep down she knows I'm right about this. It'll all work out, you'll see."

His arms tightened around her and she felt more than heard the chuckle reverberate through his chest.

"Said the girl with cloudy judgement to the second-string Hyuuga," he returned dryly.

Tenten couldn't have stopped the laughter from exploding any more than she could have broken things off with Neji to please her mother.

* * *

_**a/n: Credit for inspiration of the last scene goes to PLL … what did you guys think of the chapter? How'd I do? Please let me know! I lovelovelove getting your reviews ^^**_


	9. Break-down

_**a/n: I honestly adore every single one of you – thank you so much for such wonderful reviews ^^ The muse seems to be on a NejiTen kick this week so I figured let's enjoy it while it lasts xD**_

_**Happy reading!**_

_**Disclaimer: Disclaimed**_

* * *

_**Chapter 9: Break-down**_

It was the best week of Neji's life. Despite the lingering worry at the back of both their minds. He was completely addicted; not only to the way it felt to have Tenten moaning his name as he moved inside her, but also to all the little things that he could finally enjoy freely. Her smile was more blinding than the sun when she woke in the mornings, stretching and whispering his name. Her laughter never failed to make him feel like he was flying.

Her coffee was terrible, though and Neji grimaced as he took another hesitant sip from the steaming mug in his hands. He watched as Tenten ran around the small apartment; collecting kunai, and scrolls and items she thought she'd need on her mission that day. Truthfully, he wasn't too happy about allowing her to go off on this one alone. It wasn't a terribly long or dangerous mission and he knew that Tenten would likely castrate him if he presumed to tell her that she couldn't go …

She was suddenly next to him, flushed and slightly breathless, her shirt still only half-buttoned and hanging off one shoulder. He firmly suppressed the urge to assist in undressing when she was clearly more focused on getting dressed and staying that way.

"You'll leave the usual way?" Tenten asked, hurriedly taking a sip of coffee out of his mug.

Neji nodded and quickly bent his head to press a kiss against the corner of her mouth. "Don't worry. And, for kami's sake, Tenten, _attempt_ not to do anything reckless on this mission."

A light laugh was followed by a quick hug and she was turning away, buttoning her shirt and glancing distractedly around to check if she'd forgotten anything.

"Don't _you _worry," she threw over her shoulder, "… oh, I'm so late and I'm not sure if I got everything …"

He really couldn't keep the smirk suppressed at her mumbled words. She would doubtless have been perfectly prepared as she always was if it hadn't been for him. After hearing of her mission the day before he'd been unable to suppress the worry – not after what had happened on her last mission without him. With no other choice, nothing else he could really do, he'd decided to show Tenten exactly what she would be missing if she managed to get herself into trouble…

Unfortunately, Tenten caught the smirk from the corner of her eye, and threw him a dirty look as she holstered her smaller scrolls, and bent to pick up the big one to sling over her back.

His smirk only widened … her screams had more than served to quell the worry …

"I'll be back tomorrow night at the latest," Tenten called, from the entryway.

Cup of coffee still firmly in hand and wearing only his pants; uncaring of the fact that his hair was a mess from her fingers tangling in the length throughout the night, Neji followed her to the front door. One shoulder came to rest against the wall, and he couldn't quite keep the warmth from spreading through him when Tenten blushed slightly at his intent look, and twined her fingers through his.

"You won't stay long, right?"

Neji sighed at the anxious undertones to her question but inclined his head nonetheless.

"I love you," she whispered, giving his hand one last squeeze and she was suddenly gone, the door clicking behind her as she closed it softly.

He turned slowly back towards the kitchen, threw the rest of the (awful, though he'd never tell Tenten) coffee down the drain and quickly rinsed the mug before placing it on the drying rack. Quick steps took him back to the bedroom where he hunted through the general debris of pillows, sheets and discarded clothing, for his shirt. Finally dressed again, he straightened the bed and took one last look around the apartment to make sure no trace of his presence remained.

After her confrontation with her mother the week before Tenten had become paranoid about anyone seeing them together. In part, he could understand and he tried his utmost to respect her wishes but it was beginning to grate on his patience. Neji had never been jealous before Tenten … never felt the need to be protective or possessive of anything in his life. But he hated the fact that he couldn't claim her openly – couldn't show the entire goddamned world that she was spoken for.

Still, he'd agreed to let her work things out with her mother at her own pace and he had done his best to honor her choice. Honestly, he didn't much care for anyone's approval – not even his clan's. The fact simply was, despite what Tenten's mother seemed to think, he was on much better terms with his uncle these days. Hiashi-sama would never force him into a marriage he didn't want even if that's what the clan elders decided one day. Neji suspected his uncle's leniency was, at least in part, due to the unceasing guilt the man felt about Neji's father. With a slight wince at his own callousness, Neji admitted to himself that, if it came to it, he wasn't above using Hiashi's guilt to get his way – to get Tenten.

He'd lingered too long already and Neji quickly started to form the hand seals. His appearance wasn't immaculate but he was presentable enough should he run into anyone on his way home. The smoke obscured his vision and, when it cleared, he was in front of the Hyuuga compound gates; still frowning as he contemplated the dilemma they were facing. The fact was … it seemed more and more likely that Tenten was pregnant and he was damned if he'd allow his child to be hidden away like some dirty secret; all because its mother was too afraid of _her _mother to just lay down the law. Maybe it was time he took matters into his own hands. Tenten had enough to deal with and it _was _his fault if she should find herself pregnant and unmarried… His long hair spilled around his shoulders – he'd forgotten to tie it back – as Neji shook his head. The more he thought about it, the clearer it became.

It was his responsibility to look out for Tenten and their unborn child, after all. To smooth the way for them, to make sure that they weren't unnecessarily censured for something they were entirely innocent in …

Maybe he should start with Amaya.

* * *

Tenten cursed violently under her breath as she slowly made her way through the forest surrounding Konoha. Couldn't her period have waited just twenty-four fucking hours longer? Not that she wasn't indescribably relieved to find that she wasn't pregnant, but getting her period just as she had been preparing to leave the city where she'd been sent to drop off some documents was a pain in the ass. Luckily, she'd had the foresight to grab a pack of tampons before leaving home (having never been more aware of when her period was likely due to start in her life) but the distraction of a sexily tousled, shirtless Neji had meant that she'd forgotten painkillers.

Now, the cramps were _killing_ her_._

Still, she couldn't quite keep the smile from blooming across her features – even if her progress was ridiculously slowed by the inconvenience. She'd never been happier in her life, of that much she was sure. Not when she'd made genin, not when she'd made chuunin, not when she'd finally found her niche as a weapons expert. Literally _nothing_ had ever made her happier than Neji had in the last week. For the first time in years she felt truly safe at night, with his arm heavy around her waist and his chest pressed solidly against her back. It had always been her way – her mind's way – to work through her fears subconsciously but in the last week she'd never once felt so much as a twinge of fear for anything in her past.

The only dark spot in her newfound happiness was her mother's attitude but, now that she was sure she wasn't pregnant, Tenten felt much more confident in her ability to convince her mother that Neji was right for her. Despite the discomfort and the pain, Tenten wanted to dance through the trees, singing at the top of her lungs, but her training kept the silly urges in check. The fact was, they were still trying to figure things out for themselves; the last thing they needed was a baby to figure out, too. But there was also the lingering (irrational) disappointment because the part of Tenten that was entirely made up of silly, young girl in love, wanted nothing more than to tie Neji to her forever and a child would certainly do that.

Tenten shook her head to dispel the ridiculous thoughts. Logically she knew that they weren't ready – not when they'd barely begun their own journey. As if the freedom to finally feel this way about Neji had allowed years of pent-up emotions to come rushing out, she couldn't help the foolish desires. She wanted to disappear into him, would be entirely content to simply melt away and become part of him. She wanted tangible _proof_ that Neji was hers, as she was his, and that nothing could ever tear them apart. Just the image of Neji with a child – _their_ child – was enough to make her knees weak. But Tenten knew that fantasy and reality had a way of never being the same thing. She forced herself to focus solely on the gratitude (at any god that chose to listen) that they would have the _time_ to do things properly … to figure out if this was real and lasting (oh, kami, how she hoped it was) before being tied irrevocably to each other.

Eagerly, she jumped up into the branches of the nearest tree, deciding to ignore the pain in her abdomen, because she couldn't wait to get home and tell Neji.

Then they could finally sort things out with her mother (and his uncle, she supposed) because she knew that the hiding was wearing on Neji's patience.

Only a few more miles, a few more obstacles, and they could have their happily-ever-after.

* * *

A few hours later, properly showered and dressed again, found Neji standing outside the house where Tenten had grown up. For the first time in a very long while he was actually somewhat nervous. It wasn't that he was afraid of the diminutive woman inside the house; more that he agreed with her so completely that he couldn't quite stop the guilt from surging through him. He wasn't good enough for Tenten; he knew that, just as her mother did. But, if given the chance (which Tenten seemed inclined to do), he was more than happy to spend the rest of his days trying to _become_ worthy of her. Though he cared very little what anyone thought of him, he couldn't stand the thought of Tenten being unhappy because of outside opinions. Unfortunately, that was exactly what her mother's attitude was doing. He could understand it was different for girls – just watching Hiashi-sama with Hinata and Hanabi also brought that home. Boys were more inclined to strike out on their own, their parents less resistant to letting go … and due to Tenten's status as an only child of a widowed parent, in her case it was doubly true. She loved her mother, Neji knew, and it would devastate her if she was forced to choose between them. The more he'd thought on it the less he'd liked the idea of Tenten telling her mother about the pregnancy on her own. The way Amaya felt about him alone was enough to ensure her disapproval and censure, and he didn't want Tenten to have to go through the pain of experiencing her mother's disappointment in her. This way, by the time Amaya confronted Tenten (with him present if he had any say in the matter), the older woman would have had a chance to process the news somewhat.

He took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door, fixed his features into a perfect mask of tranquillity, and waited for Amaya to answer. He didn't have to wait long, luckily, nor did the woman seem very surprised to see him on her doorstep.

"I wondered when I'd be seeing you, Hyuuga-san," she greeted stiffly, if politely. "Please, come inside."

With a murmured greeting Neji stepped over the threshold and firmly reminded himself that he was doing this for Tenten. For their future. Because the way Amaya's eyes were coldly assessing him suddenly terrified him much more than any enemy he'd ever faced.

"Would you care for a cup of tea?" she asked finally, turning towards the kitchen while motioning Neji into the lounge.

A quiet word of assent and Neji was suddenly alone in the room. He sank down onto the couch, impossibly aware of his own body and how uncoordinated he suddenly felt. The voice of sanity was screaming at the back of his mind. He was going against Tenten's express wishes after all and…

_what the _fuck_ made him think it was a good idea to go straight to a parent to tell her he was not only banging her daughter but had knocked her up, and too bad if she didn't like it_…

Neji nearly groaned but Amaya entered the room, with a tray in her hands, and ingrained manners had him rising politely to take the tray from her. Silence reigned while Amaya served the tea; tension raging so strongly through the room that Neji doubted he'd be able to take a sip of the perfectly brewed liquid. Finally, he forced himself to take a swallow before replacing his cup, balanced on its saucer, onto the coffee table.

"I love Tenten."

He nearly kicked himself; only years of practiced stoicism kept the wince from his features but (registering the surprise on the older woman's face rather smugly) he forged ahead. Now that he'd begun (even if he seemed to be blurting those words out at the most inopportune moments lately) it was easier to say what he'd come to say.

"I know how you feel about us being … involved … and I cannot say that I do not agree with you. However, I think Tenten's feelings in the matter should take precedence."

Amaya's eyebrows rose as she regarded him through suddenly calculating eyes, "If you agree that you are not good for each other, Hyuuga-san, then I do not see why you and I are wasting each other's time."

Stubbornly, Neji forced the anger to recede and replied smoothly, "Whatever you and I might think, it is up to Tenten to evaluate how she feels and make her decisions based upon that, don't you agree?"

"Tenten is a seventeen-year-old girl. And, forgive me, but irrespective of your clan and your position within it, you are just a seventeen-year-old boy. Neither of you knows what you're feeling."

Neji inclined his head slightly – he was damned if this woman would make him feel like a recalcitrant schoolboy.

"Age is relative. Especially for shinobi. Longevity is not a given in our line of work – it tends to allow for more maturity than the average seventeen-year-old."

It was Amaya's turn to concede the point, and she tilted her head to the side, something almost like a wary sort of respect lighting her eyes. Neji suppressed the smirk. He was not a great charmer, this much he knew having never cultivated that particular characteristic, but very, very few members of the older generations could fail to be impressed with his composure and his logic. In his experience, at least.

"Be that as it may," Amaya murmured after taking another dainty sip of her tea, "puppy love never lasts. Ordinarily, I might be disposed to look the other way while Tenten experiences this for the first time … but your clan gives me pause. Again, I apologize – no offence is intended."

She arched her eyebrows at Neji, who recognized a challenge if he'd ever heard one, and therefore merely inclined his head expressionlessly.

"A talent like yours is not something the Hyuuga will relinquish lightly. _Control_ over you is not something they will relinquish lightly," Tenten's mother continued, a slight frown drawing her brows together, "And I do not think I am being unreasonable in trying to spare my daughter from being caught in the middle. It is too easy to become carried away at seventeen and make choices impulsively, and out of rebelliousness, that you will come to regret as you grow older."

"I respect and admire your caring for your daughter," Neji managed through the rising irritation, his tone still carefully polite though he knew she hadn't missed the slight tensing of his shoulders in anger, "And while I agree that you are not unreasonable, I do not think this is something you can dictate to Tenten. She is a responsible kunoichi, with her feet firmly on the ground, and therefore your fears are groundless."

He was getting tired of beating around the bush; all he was doing was giving the woman more openings to insult him – however obliquely. Neji took a deep breath and prepared himself for the plunge.

"I had hoped we might come to some understanding but I see that is not to be the case. However you feel about my involvement with Tenten is rather immaterial." He ignored her affronted gasp and went on, "It is my responsibility – my mistake – so I wished to spare Tenten this; though I am sure she would have told you on her own eventually."

Amaya's eyes narrowed suspiciously and Neji resisted the urge to swallow against the sudden dryness in his throat. He'd come this far…. He firmly forced himself to meet the older woman's gaze fully.

"Tenten is pregnant."

* * *

_**a/n: What did you think? How'd I do? Sorry for the semi-cliffy … xD But please review to tell me what you thought!**_


	10. Maelstrom

_**a/n: WOW! I honestly didn't think I could adore you guys any more but you were incredible last chapter! Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! (Maybe we can do that again this chapter? –looks hopeful-)**_

_**So … general consensus is that Neji is a prize-idiot, yeah? Haha … I am honestly enjoying this so much and I hope you will continue to do so, too.**_

_**A couple of things coming out of the reviews (though I will still get around to individual replies): **_

_**Yes, Neji and Tenten are now using protection (xD) – I sort of glossed over the smexiness and because of that forgot to mention it. Thanks for that heads-up! **_

_**Also, I've tried to slow the pace down a bit since it was rushing a bit fast (let me know how I did!). **_

_**Finally …. Smexiness anyone? You asked so nicely ^^ (Oh, hell, please don't report me! It's not terribly explicit, I promise.)**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Chapter 10: Maelstrom**_

Neji wasn't quite sure what he had expected to happen after his declaration but it wasn't this. Dead silence from Amaya had greeted the news and, just when he'd started to wonder if the woman was going to faint, she'd jumped to her feet and rushed out the door, anger flushing her face almost purple. With no other choice he'd followed after her, wondering what she intended to do.

Now he found himself staring miserably, (kami, he hoped he was hiding it, at least somewhat) at Hyuuga Hiashi.

"Neji," his uncle's voice was quiet but the severity of his tone spoke volumes louder than his words, "is this true?"

"Of course it's true!" Amaya interjected, "your nephew impregnated my daughter!"

Hiashi simply stared at Neji in silence, completely ignoring the woman who had been ranting in his study for the last half an hour. For the first time, Neji felt something like shame welling up inside him. Was this what Tenten had been so afraid of? Somehow facing his uncle was entirely different from facing Tenten's mother. Slowly, Neji nodded once, short and sharp.

His uncle sighed, and steepled his fingers beneath his chin as he surveyed his nephew. "How could you have been so careless?"

"Careless? _Careless?!_" Amaya's voice rose another octave, "That's all you have to say? My daughter has been _ruined_ – her future, her prospects – and you think he was _careless_!"

The small lines pulling his uncle's brows together nearly made Neji wince; he could clearly see that Hiashi was reaching the end of his patience with Tenten's mother …

"I will remind you, madam, that Neji isn't the only guilty party. Your daughter has just as much responsibility to bear as he does."

For a moment Neji thought Amaya might actually reach across the desk and slap Hiashi; she was quivering with anger, still bright red, and almost hyperventilating.

"I know my daughter, Hyuuga-san. She's a good girl. This never would have happened if your nephew hadn't led her astray!" Amaya shot Neji a dirty look.

It was only through sheer force of will that Neji managed to keep from glaring back. But it seemed as if Hiashi had finally reached the end of what he could endure, and Neji watched, in a sort of fascinated horror, as his uncle slowly rose to his feet, hands planted firmly on the desk in front of him. He towered over the woman standing before him and Neji had to admit to a, somewhat grudging, respect for Tenten's mother when she refused to back down, even as his uncle levelled her with his most feared scowl.

"Madam, you may know your daughter but as _anyone_ who has ever _met_ my nephew will attest, he is hardly a Casanova in the making! It seems much more likely that _he _was the one led astray – your daughter would not be the first kunoichi trying to land a husband with the Hyuuga name through entrapment!"

"Over my dead body will my daughter and my grandchild be branded with your detestable curse seal, if that's what you're implying!"

Neji closed his eyes and prayed for the earth to swallow him up – Tenten was never going to get the chance to forgive him because it seemed more and more likely that she would kill him first.

* * *

Tenten hummed softly as she kicked her front door closed behind her and dropped the heavy scrolls onto the floor with a sigh of relief. Rolling her shoulders against the stiffness, she walked into her small living-room, hand automatically reaching for the light-switch on the wall.

"Leave it off."

She just barely stopped the kunai from flying through her fingers as the timbre of Neji's voice registered at the last second.

"Neji! You nearly gave me a heart-attack! And why should the light-″

Before she had a chance to complete the sentence, Tenten found herself dragged through the semi-darkness. His arms closed around her in a vice-like grip, and Tenten laughed softly as she returned the embrace.

"I missed you, too, but, wow, I wasn't gone _that_ long."

His eyes gleamed in the slight slivers of moonlight that crept in through the haphazardly closed curtains, and Tenten frowned. There was something slightly off here … but sharing the good news took precedence so she banished the feeling of unease.

"I have some news-″

"Kiss me," Neji's voice was low, hoarse, edged in desperation, and he didn't give Tenten a chance to protest as he slanted his mouth over hers.

Happily, Tenten gave herself over to the demands of his mouth moving persuasively over hers. After all the weeks of waiting, it could wait another few minutes. Her tongue slicked out to taste him, tangling sinuously with Neji's, and Tenten couldn't keep the moan suppressed when he sucked lightly before biting down on her lower lip. As if the moan had been the signal Neji had been waiting for Tenten suddenly found herself dragged even closer, every line of her softer frame crushed against Neji's hard body. He backed her up until she was pressed firmly against the wall, and for the first time (and in a way she hadn't ever thought she'd enjoy), Tenten found pleasure in his dominance. Through the, somewhat wondering, surprise she realized she _liked_ the way he caught both her hands in one of his, trapping them above her head. Heated hardness pressed against her abdomen as he thrust roughly against her, and she swallowed his groan against her mouth.

The touch of his hands, as they roamed all over her body, was so full of desperation and need that she couldn't have felt anything but pleasure at the obvious proof that _she _could bring Neji to such a state. Her shirt was off, her hands released, as he kissed a fevered trail down her neck, along her collarbone, before drawing one aching nipple into his mouth. Tenten tangled her fingers in his hair, anchoring herself against the pleasure-pain. It was only when his fingers began to fumble with the buttons on her pants, one hand cupping the juncture of her thighs with a ragged groan, that she came back to reality with a start.

"Neji … I-I … can't…." she trailed off uncomfortably, suddenly glad for the darkness that hid her blush from him.

He barely seemed to hear her, only growling low in his throat when she pushed his hands away. Tenten frowned, the feeling that something wasn't quite _right_, rising within her again. She'd never seen Neji this way before: almost lost, as if he wanted to bring something home to her but didn't know how to do it; so at the mercy of the feeling coursing through his body that he couldn't keep the shudders continually wracking his tall frame at bay. The heat inside her rose through her body, up to her heart, and enveloped her in its rosy glow. He was here. He was hers. And he needed her. Somehow that was enough. Whatever it was that coursed through him with such intensity that it seemingly robbed him of all his careful deliberation and composure could wait; it was far more important that he received proof of her acceptance.

Quickly ducking out from under his arm, Tenten twisted so that Neji was facing her with his back against the wall. Talking clearly wasn't getting through to him so she merely pressed herself against his body, and kissed a slow-burning trail along his jugular. Deft movements released the fastenings of his pants and she revelled in his slight moan when her hand closed around his stiff length. But it wasn't enough; that low sound in his throat, slipping out despite the way she could see him gritting his teeth to keep it locked inside. For a change she wanted _him _to be reduced to a helpless puddle of lust…

She sank to her knees and took him into her mouth in one smooth movement; smugly enjoying the way he cried out as her tongue traced along the veined shaft. Carefully focused, Tenten used all of her half-suppressed kunoichi skills in a bid to make Neji beg. It didn't take too long before his trembling fingers fisted into her hair as he pulled the strands loose from their confinement. Despite the pain of his twisting digits, Tenten couldn't deny that she enjoyed the way he let go and lost himself in her touch; the way he started to thrust up into her mouth, using the grip on her hair to drag her forward in a rough and uneven rhythm.

Distantly she wondered if this was what love really was. Giving, and taking pleasure only in giving - even when receiving nothing in return.

* * *

He had never been particularly skilled at identifying emotion. He was even worse at expressing it. But, as if Tenten's touch had released him from years of careful control, Neji found that he suddenly couldn't _keep _from expressing what he was feeling the only way he knew how: by using his body. She was suddenly there, in his arms, after all the hours of worry, and even as he kissed and caressed every inch of Tenten's skin he could uncover with quick touches, he could really only focus on how this would likely be the last time she allowed him to be this close to her.

The dull ache in the region of his heart – present ever since his uncle and her mother's confrontation – was only slightly assuaged by her presence. And suddenly nothing was as important as showing Tenten exactly how she made him feel: recklessly happy, wild, dizzy and _free_. He couldn't quite stop the twinge of fear when Tenten pushed his hands away from her body – was she already tiring of him? He hadn't even told her about his rush of stupidity as yet …

But then she was on her knees, her mouth warm and wet around his aching flesh, and all he could focus on was how deeply _good_ it felt whenever Tenten touched him. This couldn't be normal, he was sure. Did another's touch always feel this earth-shattering? Somehow he doubted it …

Emotion still roiled beneath the surface of his skin and, for the first time in his life, Neji couldn't have cared less about the way he was unravelling around the seams. He _wanted _Tenten to understand the depth of feeling he held for her; how her slightest smile could bring him to his knees …

She sucked him deep and he promptly forgot how to think; instinct alone propelling the urgency – the desperate need to give all of himself to her.

It was almost embarrassing, how quickly his body responded; how fast the edge loomed. He wanted to tell her how good she felt, how good she was making him feel; wanted to tell her that he loved her and that he was sorry …

All he could manage was a groaned-growl of desperate bliss as he spilled himself onto her tongue.

* * *

"I'm not pregnant."

Tenten's soft tone, her words wrapped in a happy lilt to her voice, took a moment to register through the mind-numbing afterglow. Neji was leaning back against the wall, Tenten curled into his side, and the silence had been peaceful as he attempted to recover from the frenzy of emotion and its physical release.

"What?" Neji murmured, finally, sure he must not have heard her correctly.

Tenten pushed herself into a sitting position, and even in the dim light he could see the way her eyes shone with relief.

"I'm not pregnant," she repeated, happily.

Neji froze in horror, pearlescent eyes locked onto hazel-brown as if he could make the words untrue through sheer force of will.

It would have been better if she had been pregnant.

How was he supposed to tell her now? How could he open his mouth and ruin her happiness by telling her that his sheer unadulterated _stupidity_ had cost her not only her freedom but her mother's trust, too? How was he supposed to inform her of the fact that both his uncle and her mother were lying in wait. He hadn't wanted her to put on any lights because that would surely have signalled that she was back in Konoha, and Neji was sure his uncle had a genin stationed somewhere, just waiting for Tenten to be back before they pounced.

Earlier, after they had all calmed down somewhat, Hiashi and Amaya had come to the conclusion that it was no use crying over spilt milk and that the only thing left to do was to implement as much damage control as they could. They couldn't agree on everything – Hiashi maintaining that the Byakugan could not be outside clan control and Amaya standing her ground on Tenten and her grandchild's foreheads remaining unblemished – but they finally _had _agreed on one thing.

Neji and Tenten had to be kept as far away from each other as possible while they made the necessary (and discreet) arrangements for Tenten to see a doctor and verify whether she was in fact pregnant. Hiashi's insistence on DNA testing once the child was born had horrified Neji almost as much as Amaya, and that had finally been the point where he'd rediscovered his spine.

Whatever they decided wouldn't make any difference; Tenten would have the final say and whatever decisions she came to would be good enough for Neji. He still wanted to wince when he thought of the enraged expressions that comment had earned him.

He couldn't hide it from Tenten though; he was fairly sure that Hiashi and Amaya had teamed up to make sure they get to Tenten before he did, so Neji reluctantly straightened his spine and opened his mouth.

"I may have made a mistake."

_A big one, _he amended mentally.

Tenten turned her face enquiringly, and Neji took a deep breath.

"I told your mother." He couldn't bring himself to look Tenten in the eye any longer.

"She proceeded to inform Hiashi-sama. I suspect they are devising ways to keep us apart while they verify whether you are pregnant and decide what's to be done."

Never before had silence felt oppressive to Neji; never in his life had he had cause to fear the lack of sound so much as in that moment. The longer Tenten remained silent, the worse it became, until he found himself speaking again.

"I think your lease has been ended; your mother is probably fitting locks onto your bedroom door at her house. My uncle is, no doubt, already lining up suitable Hyuuga girls to keep me occupied since I cannot be allowed to run around impregnating girls the clan cannot control … They've probably already spoken to the Hokage to ensure we never work together again. If they have their way we'll never _see _each other again."

The words trailed off into a hot blush and Neji clamped his lips firmly shut.

_What the hell was he doing?_

"But … I'm not pregnant," Tenten finally spoke.

Instead of the anger he so richly deserved – wanted so badly – she sounded lost and confused and Neji immediately vowed to do everything in his power to set this mess right. His grip tightened around her frame (she suddenly felt impossibly small and fragile) and he didn't miss the way Tenten's grip on his shirt turned her knuckles white.

"It'll be fine. I swear, I'll fix this."

"Said the second-string Hyuuga to the girl with cloudy judgement?" she said-asked, finally, the words edged in tears.

And the notes of pure white-hot rage underlying the hysteria in her voice had equal amounts of relief and fear flowing through his body. Tenten had never been one to succumb to shocked helplessness for very long, and Neji forced himself not to wince as she sat up and levelled him with a furious glare.

She wasn't leaving him.

She might be angry (which he deserved), but Neji couldn't quite stop the relief from gaining the upper-hand as he stared at the floor while Tenten's rage poured over his head.

_(Neji, you complete _imbecile_! What were you thinking? Did you think at all? I _told _you I would handle it!)_

_This _was what love was. Facing whatever befell them together.

For better or for worse.

* * *

_**a/n: So … how'd I do? **_


	11. Unbreakable

_**A/n: Sorry it took so long! But the muse is back ^^ Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! Many of you expressed that it was a shame I'd glossed over the sexual aspect of the NejiTen relationship … and I do agree. It is a big part of this story and I was doing it a disservice so in this chapter we see some more of their …er … intimate moments xD … It started off as sort of a way of expressing the growing trust and feeling between them and then morphed into a major lemon. Sorry, I got carried away, haha. But I hope that you'll enjoy the chapter =D**_

_**Warnings: Smexiness … but I think we're all agreed that it is not a bad thing (so no reporting me, yes? ^^)**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Chapter 11: Unbreakable**_

The ache was unbearable. Tenten writhed, her head tossing from side to side and tangling her hair on the pillowcase. Neji moaned softly into her neck; lips tracing slow, sensual patterns along her throat. Dawn was beginning to trace fingers of light across the dark sky but Tenten refused to acknowledge the rushing approach of reality that threatened to drown them like an avalanche. Instead she chose to focus purely on the moment: on Neji and the way he felt and the way he made her feel. Even after a week the anger was still there; floating at the very back of her consciousness though she'd never been able to hold on to anger for very long, much less stay angry at Neji. His actions had been incredibly stupid but she could understand how he thought he had been doing the right thing. It wouldn't change anything to stay angry at Neji … and to be honest he wasn't the person she was really angry at.

She was angry at herself.

Somehow she'd never noticed how much control her mother wielded over her life. Amaya loved her; Tenten knew and understood how hard it had been for her mother to raise a kunoichi daughter on her own but that didn't excuse her mother's current behavior. A big part of Tenten couldn't help but wonder if her mother even cared that Neji was making her happier than she'd ever been …

It had been sheer torture this past week; sneaking around and utilizing all of their shinobi skills so that they could manage to steal some time together. Luck had been on their side that day; Amaya had retreated to bed early (citing a migraine and impressing on Tenten that she was not to see Neji) thankfully at her own house. The past week Amaya had taken to visiting Tenten's apartment until late at night. Just to prove that fate intended for them to have an evening to themselves, Hiashi had been held up in urgent clan meetings. Neji had snuck into her apartment, easily by-passing Hiashi's genin lookout, early that evening and, for the first time in a week, they had the entire night to themselves.

As if he'd noticed her thoughts wandering, Neji's hand slid down her sweat-slicked stomach; fingers unerringly hitting all the right spots before he slid two fingers deeply inside.

"Neji!"

Her body arched, indescribable pleasure surging through her veins like an electrical charge and Tenten promptly forgot all about the reality awaiting them. Neji's fingers stilled though her hips kept moving, searching for more stimulation, and Tenten was glad he didn't see the smirk lifting her lips. They hadn't slept much throughout the night; far too focused on each other and how time was running out. Neji had been teasing her mercilessly for hours. Her body barely had time to stop convulsing after one earth-shaking climax before he was pushing her towards the precipice of the next, only to leave her dangling on the very edge for what felt like eons.

It was time for a little payback …

He wasn't expecting her quick movements and it was easy enough to wrap her legs tightly around his hips, flipping them over so that she straddled a very surprised-looking Neji. The surprise quickly turned into a look of pure, lancing heat and Tenten clenched her fingers, barely noticing how her nails dug into his pectoral muscles as she fought to keep her composure. Neji's back arched almost involuntarily, a low sound of pleasure escaping from his slightly parted lips as his eyes closed.

Tenten nearly lost her grip on the last trailing tendrils of thought at the sight; the way his body shuddered beneath her and the flush on his cheeks … she trembled in reaction but at the last possible moment managed to grasp hold of her composure. She didn't know what turned her on more: the obvious proof that Neji enjoyed her touch as much as she loved his or the fact that she had just discovered another thing about him that no one else knew. Who would have guessed that Neji would like his pleasure mixed with a little bit of pain?

It was ridiculous, how quickly she could lose herself in him; how easy it was to get completely caught up in the way he felt and moved as she explored every dip and plane of his body. Time was completely irrelevant and Tenten barely noticed its passage …

"_Fuck_ … Ten … _please_…"

She couldn't contain the moan at the utter abandon in Neji's voice, the hoarse pleading, so she let it vibrate over her tongue just as she licked a slow line along his hardened flesh. Without any warning his fingers closed around the strands of hair streaming down her back in a vice-like grip and he forced her down as he thrust up. His obvious frustration, when she was so unbearably aroused, caused bright white lights to explode behind her eyelids as they slid involuntarily shut and, for a moment, Tenten almost considered giving in. But the desire to see Neji's breaking point … to bring him to that desperate edge of heaven and hell, as he'd done to her, won out. Slowly Tenten lifted her head, almost giggling out loud when Neji resisted her efforts before finally releasing his grip on her hair with a ragged groan. She reached up and leaned over, drawing him into a slow kiss, and carefully reached between them to position him. Finally, she drew back, carefully placed her hands on his chest for leverage and drove down with her hips while pressing her nails firmly into his skin. It took all of her concentration to keep her nails from drawing blood as her body reacted to the heated hardness filling her so flawlessly.

He arched up, pressing as deeply into her as he could, and Tenten groaned at the sight of the frustration on his face being replaced with pure breathless _want_. A slow smooth rhythm, her hips bucking perfectly while she slid her hands down his torso to keep him still beneath her, and Tenten forgot to feel triumphant. There was just Neji, the way he whispered her name and the way his hands traced trembling caresses across her back. She could have done this forever; instead of chasing after that one big explosion she focused on the way their bodies meshed– as if they'd been made to do this together …

Neji's hands slid to her hips, fingers digging into her skin as he tried to coax her body to move faster but Tenten stubbornly kept moving slowly, drawing back until he almost slipped out before pushing forward to take him as deeply as she could again. Distantly she was aware of the increasing desperation of Neji's touches as he reached up to knead her breasts before his hands slid around and cupped the firm globes of her bottom as he tried to drive her closer, faster. Liquid heat pooled low in her being, the coil inside her winding tighter and tighter, and all the strength left her limbs until she could barely keep moving.

Abruptly Neji sat up, his arms closing around Tenten's body which was just as well because the movement pressed his hardness firmly against her back wall and Tenten muffled her scream into his neck. The pleasure threatened to overwhelm her but she clung to Neji with her remaining strength, never wanting this to end. He moved swiftly, depositing her on her back, drawing her legs around his hips as he moved hastily to thrust back in. Their mingled groans rang through the air as Neji slid home, tiny shocks of pleasure running through Tenten's entire body as her inner walls gripped him and tried to draw him deeper.

Tenten frowned in confusion when Neji stilled, tensing into perfect rigidity. His ragged breathing told her quite eloquently that he'd reached the end of what he could endure and she smiled as she pressed a soft kiss against his shoulder, her hands reaching up to stroke soothingly through his hair.

"It's okay." She gasped the reassurance because just as she spoke Neji moved inside her, almost convulsively, before forcing himself into stillness again.

"I-I … I _have _to…"

His voice trailed off as he bit into the juncture of her shoulder and her neck and prayed for strength. After what Tenten had been through he'd made sure to never scare her again; to always take it slow and gentle so that she wouldn't feel threatened … but this time Neji wasn't sure he could.

"It's okay, Neji. Move," Tenten murmured again, bucking her hips.

It was too much, far too much, and Neji admitted defeat though the shame that he was letting Tenten down again reared up at the very back of his mind.

"I can't go easy," he managed to get out through gritted teeth, hips already beginning to twitch out of his control. _I don't want to_, he admitted silently.

His fingers were digging into the mattress on either side of Tenten's head, clenching fistfuls of sheet in such a tight grip that Neji was surprised they hadn't torn as yet. Every muscle in his body was drawn taut as he fought against the urge to pull back and then slam forward again and again …

Cool fingertips traced over his mouth and Tenten lifted her head to press a quick kiss against his lips, nipping slightly at the bottom one before she withdrew a scant few inches.

"Fuck me," she whispered against his mouth.

The shock of Tenten whispering those words to him (though it was a fantasy he'd entertained on more than one occasion) broke through the last of Neji's control. The sheets pooled around their lower bodies as Tenten wound her legs tightly around his hips; his fingers didn't relinquish their grip on the sheets and he buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair with a harsh groan.

He moved relentlessly; pushing forward, harder and faster and deeper, until Tenten was aware of nothing except the desperate bliss. Distantly she was aware of her screams rending through the air, of Neji whispering how good she felt, so tight around him, the words edged in a hoarse moan. Then there was just pure pleasure, engulfing her so completely that Tenten nearly blacked out from the sheer force of it. Her body shuddered around Neji's, and it was only his bitten-off half-shout and the heavier wet heat of his release inside of her that anchored her to reality.

* * *

The sun had almost reached its zenith by the time Tenten woke. Silently Neji watched as her eyelids began to flutter, a slight frown pulling her brows together. He kept his arm anchored firmly around her body as he waited for her to wake up. Though he'd been exhausted (if ecstatically happy) he hadn't slept for very long. He couldn't, not when this whole dark mess kept hovering over their heads and it was entirely his fault. Shame had played its part, though. And he couldn't help but wonder if maybe Amaya was right; maybe the best thing he could do was disappear from Tenten's life.

He loved her.

More than he'd ever thought possible to love another human being; enough to _want _to not be selfish for once in his life. But he also hadn't lied to Hiashi: first and foremost he wanted Tenten to be happy. If it made her happy to have him in her life (however unfathomable _that_ was) then he would be in her life for as long as she wanted him. Finally, he'd realized that they could not go on the way they had been for the last week. There was really only one solution to the problem … but first he had to find out what Tenten wanted.

"Morning," Tenten whispered, still lying on her side and nestled against him though he could see the smile lifting her lips.

Slowly she turned in his arms and Neji took a deep breath. It was now or never, before he lost his nerve.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "For this whole mess and for losing control last night-″

"I wanted you to lose control," Tenten interrupted, her happy, sleepy smile morphing into a frown, "I trust you and you're probably the only one I'd ever want to lose control like that but don't you dare try to make it less than it was. Which was incredible." The smile was back in place as Tenten returned his gaze steadily.

Neji took a deep breath, wanting so badly to articulate how words made him feel but being at a complete loss for to how to express it.

"I love you," he told her fiercely instead, pressing a hard kiss to her forehead.

Before she had a chance to say anything he quickly forged ahead, "But I need to ask: is this really what you want? Do you really want me?" He refused to acknowledge how his heart sped up, thundering blood rushing through his ears because a part of him couldn't help but be afraid that she would say that she _didn't _want him; that she'd changed her mind.

Tenten frowned, "Of course I want you. Don't be ridiculous. I love you."

The slight hitch of uncertainty to her voice somehow dispelled the last of the lingering doubts and Neji relaxed slightly.

"I need you to be sure. Because I know how to fix this whole mess but it won't be easy."

She watched him in silence for a moment, wariness and hope mingling in her expressive eyes before her features cleared and Neji expelled the breath he hadn't been aware of holding.

"If it means we can be together then I'm willing to do whatever it takes," Tenten said softly.

Neji sat up slowly, drawing Tenten with him.

"Then come on, I know where to find your mother and my uncle."

* * *

For the first time in many years Neji dreaded entering the Hyuuga compound. Tenten's fingers wound tightly through his and he drew strength from that fact. For a moment Neji paused just in front of the gates, staring at the sky and the blazing sun above. Distantly a flock of sparrows wheeled across the blue expanse.

_Forgive me, Father. But I think you would be proud of what I'm doing._

He ignored the confused looks Tenten periodically sent his way and purposefully strode through the courtyard towards the outside door of his uncle's study. A short knock, followed by Hiashi's stern voice bidding him enter and suddenly there was no turning back. He could hear Tenten's audible gasp from behind him as she caught sight of her mother sitting in the chair in front of Hiashi's desk, sipping from a cup of tea but Neji had expected it. Where else would she be as they plotted ways to keep the two of them apart? Though both Hiashi and Amaya had been understandably relieved to hear that there was no impending grandchild, the news had also removed their only real control measure. The fact that Tenten _could_ someday be pregnant wouldn't have escaped them and Neji was sure they'd been plotting ways to pull Tenten away from him through the last week. Determination firmed his lips into a thin line.

In this they would fail.

Carefully, Neji drew Tenten inside after him, feeling the slight tremble in her fingers though she refused to let go of his hand, and steered her towards the empty chair next to her mother. She sat and fixed an expectant gaze on him, studiously ignoring the woman next to her though Amaya frowned disapprovingly at her daughter.

Being the center of attention was not something Neji relished but he suppressed the unease and quickly turned to face his uncle. Hiashi had remained behind his desk, a speculative look fixed firmly on his nephew.

"Uncle," Neji began, half-bowing formally, "I apologize for disregarding your express wishes and intruding upon your meeting but this could not wait."

Hiashi raised his eyebrows and from the corner of his eye Neji could see Amaya indignantly opening her mouth before Tenten shushed her. He took another deep breath and turned to face Tenten's mother.

"You're right. I'm not good enough for your daughter." Neji quickly shot his uncle a quelling look when Hiashi opened his mouth, displeasure etched on his features. "And it has nothing to do with me personally, uncle. The fact remains that I am a Bunke member of the Hyuuga and that brings its own set of complications. We've made great strides, Hiashi-sama, but intrinsically the clan remains unchanged and I cannot blame Amaya-san for her misgivings."

The slight flash of fear in Tenten's gaze pulled at something in the region of his heart but Neji quickly forced it to recede and focused his full attention on her mother again.

"I share your misgivings. In fact, I would do everything in my power to prevent Tenten from being subjected to my fate."

His movements felt disconnected from his brain but Neji took the two strides until he was standing in front of Tenten and spoke to her directly.

"I wanted them to hear this because they need to hear it. But I'm saying it to you alone. I have nothing to offer you but I want to share a life with you, Tenten. Though all I can give you is myself. "

The thundering of his heart almost drowned out his words but Neji turned towards his uncle once more.

"You have done … so much for me, Hiashi-sama. And I am grateful. But I think this is something my father would have understood – something he could be proud of. I take his legacy and I return his name."

Finally, Amaya's turn and then he would be nearly done …

"I hope that in time you and I will reach an understanding though I accept that you'll never approve of me. I intend to prove to you that nothing is as important as Tenten's happiness and I hope you can respect that."

"Hiashi-sama," Neji bowed again, deeper this time, "I renounce my name. From today I will no longer be a part of the Hyuuga clan – I want you to strike my name from the rolls. I cannot unlearn the secrets of the Byakugan, and I trust the clan will have no objection to my using the techniques that belong to them as my livelihood, but you have my word that I will never pass those along. Even if Tenten and I should not last. No child of mine – irrespective of whether they have the Byakugan or not – will ever learn how to use it. My father's Hyuuga bloodline will die with me."

* * *

_**a/n: So … how'd I do? (I apologize for the very OOC speech of Neji's but … meh, having Neji in a romance is already OOC and this was something I could picture him doing ^^)**_


	12. The Best-Laid Plans

_**a/n: I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I really meant to update long before this but life got in the way and then chapter 614 happened and I was having a really hard time writing Neji after that. Still I hope that you'll enjoy the chapter and that my absolute devastation didn't impact on the characterization or the writing xD Thank you so much for everyone's continued support! You guys absolutely make my day!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Though I should. Because Kishimoto-san no longer deserves to.**_

* * *

_**Chapter 12: The Best-Laid Plans**_

Neji kept his gaze firmly fixed on Tenten as the expected chaos erupted around him. She was staring back at him; hazel eyes filled with unreadable emotions and expression slack with shock, but at least she wasn't running away.

"Neji, you know I cannot allow-″ Hiashi's protest was laced with sympathy though the words were cut off by Amaya's shrill voice.

"Oh! Well, that's rich! Is my daughter supposed to feel _honored_by such a very high-handed declaration?! Typical Hyuuga-″

But Hiashi had clearly had quite enough of the woman's vitriol and Neji's gaze was nearly ripped from Tenten's in surprise at the venom that laced his uncle's raised voice.

"I will thank you to keep your low opinions of a clan so far above your own social standing to yourself while you are enjoying said clan's hospitality!"

Amaya stood, teacup rattling in its saucer, as anger trembled through her frame. She replaced the cup on Hiashi's desk with deliberation though some of the liquid still sloshed over the rim of the cup to pool in the saucer. Neji found his gaze fixed almost unwillingly on the vibrating pool of tea.

Tenten had still to say anything. And her continued silence could only mean one thing …

Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach.

"I honestly don't know who you think you are, Hyuuga Neji." Amaya's tone was only slightly lower as she addressed him directly for the first time, "But rest assured that your ploy won't work on me! Tenten might be too young and inexperienced still to see your 'declaration' for what it is, but I do! You will _not _bind her with guilt!"

Finally, it was too much. Finally, the anger that had been boiling steadily beneath his forced calm erupted into a volcano of fury. Neji rounded on the older woman, one hand clenched tightly around the edge of his uncle's desk. The sharp edge digging into his skin served as a reminder that she wasn't a shinobi and he couldn't exactly go around hitting women no matter how much he wanted to. Neji was really only aware of seeing red.

"What the hell do you want from me, woman?! Nothing I say or do is ever good enough! I have nothing else to give – nothing else to show Tenten that she means more to me than anything. But even _that _isn't good enough for you!" He hissed the words viciously, only distantly aware of Tenten jumping to her feet, her hands resting on his chest, pulling at his clothes to draw him away.

"You could let her go – that would prove your _devotion_!" Amaya sneered the last word and held an imperious hand out to her daughter, only to let it drop when Hiashi addressed her.

"I do not know who you think _you _are but I will not stand idly by while you attack and coerce a child of mine, Amaya-san!"

"_Stop!_"

Tenten had stepped into the circle the three of them formed, her hands raised as she yelled the word. All three of them gaped at the girl glaring at each of them in turn, the flush of anger prominent on her cheeks. After a long moment of increasingly uncomfortable silence Tenten finally began to speak in a low tone, her voice vibrating with anger.

"I think there's an awful lot of decision making going around – _none of which includes me_!"

She took a deep breath and turned to Neji, her expression softening somewhat.

"I can't begin to describe how it makes me feel that you would be willing to sacrifice everything for me. But I can't let you do that."

Sheer panic welled up inside him and Neji raised a hand towards her only to drop it again, his eyes pleading silently with Tenten not to do this.

"I _won't _let you do that because in that at least my mother is right, Neji," she smiled tremulously up at him, "eventually such a sacrifice will cause resentment and strife … that isn't how I want us to be. We shouldn't be based on giving up everything else when I see it as gaining something incredibly precious."

He could almost feel the approval radiating from Hiashi-sama behind him though Amaya's mouth twisted in distaste.

Determination firmed Tenten's jaw as she turned to her mother. "Don't make me choose between the two of you, Mother. I beg you. Just … can't you try and be happy for me?"

Sadness twisted Amaya's mouth and she took her daughter's hand into her both of hers, firmly ignoring the males present.

"Oh, Tenny. I'm so sorry that you have to go through this … but one day you'll thank me."

* * *

The weeks were interminable, despite the long mission he'd embarked upon. Somewhere at the back of his mind, Neji had known that no amount of distance would decrease the emotional anguish but he'd still had to try. After that disastrous confrontation in Hiashi's study Amaya had departed, leaving Tenten to make her own decisions though her mother's stance had been quite clear. His uncle had melted away, where to Neji had no idea. He'd only really been aware of Tenten staring at him with large, tear-filled eyes which hadn't boded well. The long silence that had dragged between them had eventually been broken by her softly whispered words.

Her mother was alone; Tenten was all she had.

And Neji had understood the goodbye implicit in that one short sentence.

So he'd stalked past her, so goddamned _angry _that she would throw her own life – their happiness – away at the whim of one selfish, over-protective and clingy parent that he hadn't been able to speak.

He hadn't seen her since.

Every day was fresh torture; every morning he woke with a hollow feeling in his chest that made no sense until he remembered that all was not right in the world. Every night – despite his best efforts to work himself to the bone – sleep eluded him as he tortured himself by reliving every moment she'd spent in his arms, until his body ached and burned, and the restless energy compelled him to get up and attempt to do something to distract himself.

Tenten would have to be faced sometime, he knew that, and as Neji sped silently through the tree-tops of the forest surrounding Konoha, he also knew that despite a month away he was nowhere near ready. But he'd made a commitment to their team and letting down Lee was never quite the same as letting anyone else down … therefore he would be at their usual training grounds the next morning, whether he wanted to be or not.

In all the literature Neji had read he'd never quite understood how people could really be brought to their knees by love. The poets had always enjoyed his vague, sneering disdain because seriously, how pathetic was it to be so absolutely at the mercy of a feeling as ridiculous as that? Now he realized he understood _completely_. But with time comes resignation and Neji could agree with Tenten on an intellectual level.

Star-crossed lovers sounded romantic and wonderful but couldn't exist in real life. There was no such thing as being able to defy the odds … because inherently neither of them was that selfish. Both of them understood that they were connected to other people – his clan, her mother, their team – and risking all of that on the off chance that they would work out in the long run just did not make logical sense.

He realized it, and he agreed with it - because no relationship could remain strong when one of the parties was forever being torn in two directions; their loyalties divided – but his heart rebelled against it. The big red gates loomed on the horizon and Neji forced himself to not let his pace slacken. He would face Tenten with the shreds of his pride drawn into a careful wall around the pieces of his heart.

* * *

The last month had been sheer _torture_. Everywhere she went she saw the accusation – the betrayal - in Neji's eyes. Her dreams were filled with vague shadows, and the indescribable sense of loss as she chased him down winding corridors without ever seeming to gain any ground. Daylight hours were spent pretending to be fine, pretending that her heart hadn't been torn from her chest; that she wasn't walking around with a gaping hole where it should have been.

Increasing resentment against her mother had started to take hold. Couldn't the woman _see _that her only child was in pain? Didn't that make even one iota of difference? But the old fear was hard to shake, and she couldn't quite bring herself to lash out at her parent the way she sometimes imagined doing.

So, Tenten followed her usual routines, firmly reminding herself that the show must go on despite her heart being somewhere far away from home. The worst part was the waiting – she had no idea where Neji had gone or what mission he'd undertaken and Hiashi-sama would hardly answer any questions she posed to him (she could see the censorious anger behind his blank gaze whenever their paths crossed) but luckily Gai-sensei and Lee were completely oblivious to the situation. Unfortunately, neither of them saw any reason to discover daily updates on Neji's status so she had to be content with whatever new shred of information she could tease out of them without arousing suspicions.

The dreams were back. Every night without fail she would wake up at least once with the horror of past nightmares clinging to her and instinctively reach for Neji's warmth only to find his side of the bed cold and abandoned. Maybe that was the worst part – living daily with the reminders of him everywhere while being unable to see him, talk to him, touch him.

For the first time Tenten really appreciated why the line dividing friendship and romance was treated like a bomb by most kunoichi. With the possible exception of Sakura who had always worn her heart on her sleeve regarding her missing teammate, most kunoichi were very careful to never stray outside the friend zone with their teammates. Not for the first time Tenten cursed the kami-forsaken rock that was Suna and the effect it had had on her equilibrium.

If none of it had happened … then she wouldn't have lost Neji so completely that she was filled with trepidation for his return. Would they be able to work together after all that had transpired? Would he ever be able to forgive her for not choosing him when he had made it so heartbreakingly clear that he would always choose her?

Tenten blinked against the tears and forced herself to focus on the targets she'd set up for practice.

Only time would tell.

* * *

There it was again, that terrifying feeling of having the sky caving in on him. She was so unbelievably beautiful.

Neji watched in carefully concealed silence as Tenten took aim and launched her kunai to lodge dead center in the targets she'd set up. He felt oddly breathless, as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He'd known it was a bad idea – to come straight to their usual training grounds instead of going back to the Hyuuga compound after he'd given his report to the Hokage. But the pull had been almost magnetic; he couldn't have resisted if he'd tried. She called to him. And after all this time seeing her was simultaneously a balm to his soul and a fresh stab to the heart.

Taking a deep breath he carefully retreated into the shadows when Tenten's shoulder's slumped and one slender hand rose to wipe at her eyes. Sweat or tears? He had no way of telling but instinctively he realized that she wouldn't have been tired out by merely throwing kunai at targets…

It hurt. It hurt so badly that she was hurting and he could do nothing about it. But … she'd made her choice and Neji stood indecisively for a few moments longer before determination firmed his lips into a thin line. For the last month he'd been wracking his brain trying to understand where it had gone wrong; what part Tenten had taken exception to. Because deep down inside he knew that though her mother had played a big role that wasn't all there was to the situation. Something, somewhere, had made Tenten hesitate. She hadn't fully believed in them and he wanted to know why. So he firmly hardened his heart – prepared himself for the inevitability of causing her more pain – because she damned well owed him some answers.

He made sure to make some noise as he approached the target practice area but Tenten still jumped when she saw him.

"_Neji_."

She breathed his name like a prayer and he sucked in the next mouthful of air as he fought against the breathless feeling his name on her lips engendered. He opened his mouth; he'd meant to be cool and calm and collected – to show her that he was fine, that he just wanted to understand … but somehow none of that came to pass. Instead Tenten seemed to freeze into place before melting into motion and then she was in his arms. Tears streaked down her face as she ran her hands over every inch of him she could reach; all the while she mumbled her relief at his uninjured state. Once she had satisfied herself that he'd returned, whole and uninjured, her arms tightened around his neck as she pressed her body as close as she could, and he could've sworn she was mumbling 'I'm so sorry' into his neck while more tears wetted the cloth covering his chest.

In confusion Neji stared down at the crown of Tenten's head. What was going on? Was she supposed to be so … vociferously joyful at his return, so … tactile in her affections? Was he supposed to allow it? Or should he push her away before she had the chance to push _him _away again? Not for the first time since Suna Neji cursed his lack of experience with the opposite sex. Before he had a chance to make up his mind, to really wrap his head around the events of the last few minutes, Tenten pulled back slightly. Tears sparkled on her wet lashes, and how he hated being the cause of her tears, but she stood on tip-toe, her fingers threading through his hair as she pulled his head down into a kiss that seared all the hurt he'd been clinging to right out of his blood.

This was right.

He knew it – _understood it_ – on an absolutely primal level. Her lips softened against his when he finally pushed back, taking control of the kiss and he couldn't help but revel in the knowledge that, despite everything, there was no way that Tenten could deny the effect he had on her physically. Her smaller frame molded against his in a way that only served to confirm the rightness. They'd been made for each other almost as if someone had deliberately carved, then separated, two sides of the same coin.

They broke apart for air and common sense and reality came crashing down on his head like a bucked of cold water on a winter's morning. Carefully, Neji cradled her face between his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"I still don't know why you couldn't trust in us – in me. But, Ten, the last month … don't do that to us again. I'm here. If you want me. All you need to do is … trust."

The words were so woefully inadequate – he hadn't even realized that this was his intention all along: to try and convince Tenten one last time. If he had known, he would have spent the journey home working on a proper recitation of all he wanted to say but … it was too late now. The words were already out and, as always, he hadn't done her justice. All he could do was hope that she would understand the sentiments behind the words and how much he meant them.

* * *

Tenten could feel the tension coursing through Neji's veins. She could see the way his mouth tightened, as if he wanted to bite his lip but couldn't quite bring himself to reveal so much. His gaze was sure as he met hers levelly, but she was well-versed in reading between the lines with Neji. She could clearly see the hope, the vulnerability, and the fear, that warred within the pearlescent gaze. Her heart ached as she contemplated the pain she'd caused. And finally she could accept – understand – that there were different forms of love.

The love she felt for Neji was all-consuming; without it she wasn't whole and that wasn't the way she wanted to live her life.

The love she bore her mother was different but no less strong. All that remained was to convince her mother of that. Because finally, and with aching clarity that brought more tears to her eyes she understood Amaya's actions. What she'd said to Neji before was entirely true – Tenten was all Amaya had. And Tenten couldn't even begin to imagine how that must have weighed on her mother when Tenten had chosen to become a kunoichi. Finally, she could understand why Amaya had been so dead-set against Neji. Her concerns about the clan weren't misplaced – though they were surmountable. The real problem had been that Amaya was afraid of losing her daughter. She had seen clearly how much Neji had come to mean to Tenten through the years – had spotted the inevitability of the two of them being together long before either of them had – and she had been afraid that Neji would take Tenten away from her.

Peace settled into Tenten's soul. Her choice had been made; truthfully it had been made long ago … long before that night in Suna.

"I'm … so sorry, Neji," she whispered, her voice hitching on the words and she immediately rushed to explain when she felt his body tense beneath her hands. "No! I don't mean it like that … I mean, I'm sorry for not having had the courage before. But I'm not scared anymore."

She raised her eyes to his, willing the tears away because the kami knew she'd cried enough.

When he kissed her this time, there was no fear, no lingering doubts … just the joyful acceptance of knowing that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

* * *

_**a/n: How'd I do? Please review and let me know! We're heading into the final 'arc' of OTW and I hope you're all enjoying it so far and that you'll continue to do so!**_


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